The Oscar Wilde Society has an exciting and diverse programme of events all year round. We organise lectures, readings, and discussions about Wilde and his works, and visits to places associated with him. We also aim to highlight other events of interest which are organised by other entities.
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Oscar Wilde Society Summer Luncheon
Reception from noon with lunch starting at 1.00 p.m.
Last year it was decided to move the location of our traditional summer lunch in Oxford to St Hilda’s College, the first women’s college at the University of Oxford, established in 1893. It is a lovely college, with gardens onto the river, and we enjoyed our traditional Pimms reception followed by a delicious lunch in their riverside pavilion overlooking the dreaming spires. The event was such a success that we will be returning there for this year’s lunch.
Magdalen College is located just the other side of the bridge to St Hilda’s, so guests can visit the college (subject to whether it is closed for a private event) following the luncheon if they would like to see Oscar’s college as well.
St Hilda’s is located on Cowley Place, which is off to the right if approaching the roundabout at the end of the High Street from the High Street itself. If coming from London by Oxford Tube, if you alight at St Clements’ it is a five-minute walk from the stop. If arriving by train, you can catch any of the following buses to ‘the Plain’ roundabout: 400 (stop R1), 1, 5 (Stop R2), X7, X8 (Stop R5)
Our speaker this year will be author, critic and art historian Dr James Cahill. His debut novel, Tiepolo Blue (2022) was shortlisted in 2023 for the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award, and was selected in autumn 2024 for H. M. the Queen’s Reading Room. It was described by Sir Stephen Fry as ‘the best novel I have read for ages … masterly’. His second novel, The Violet Hour, was published in February 2025. The plot involves a reimagining of the relationship between Dorian Gray and Lord Henry Wotton; the main character, Thomas Haller – an abstract painter – is in thrall to the older, more worldly Claude Berlins, a renowned art dealer. The novel is indebted to Wilde’s ideas about art and Hellenism, and to the thinking of the Aesthetic movement in general
Tickets cost £70 per person, which includes a Pimms reception, three course lunch, and after dinner tea/coffee. Wine with the meal is not included but can be bought on the day from their wine list, which features bottles from Brightwell’s, a local Oxford vineyard.
Booking closes on Friday 11 July. Members may bring one guest.