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The books that made me: Lord Rowan Williams FBA

Tue 3 Mar 2026

Event series
The Age of Self?
Unedited recording of the event

Delve into the books that have inspired the life and ideas of Lord Rowan Williams FBA, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.

With wide-ranging interests spanning theology, poetry, philosophy, languages and literature, Lord Williams’s work explores what it means to be human and how the arts and humanities can help us better understand ourselves, each other and the world around us.

Tune into an inspiring conversation about the stories that have shaped his thinking, from his childhood in Wales to his distinguished career in academia and the Church of England.

Speaker

Lord Rowan Williams FBA

The Rt Revd & Rt Hon the Lord Rowan Williams of Oystermouth FBA is a former Archbishop of Canterbury (2002-2012) and was until 2020 the Master of Magdalen College, University of Cambridge. He is the author of many books, including Passions of the Soul, Looking East in Winter, Holy Living, and The Edge of Words. His next book Solidarity is due to be published in 2026. He was made a life peer in 2013 and is now Lord Williams of Oystermouth. He lives in Cardiff and continues to broadcast, preach and lecture internationally. In 2022, he gave the second of the BBC’s centenary Reith Lectures. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1990.

Chair

Ritula Shah

Ritula Shah is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. She is the presenter of Calm Classics every weekday evening on ClassicFM. For the past 15 years, she was the main presenter of the World Tonight, Radio 4’s evening news programme, which has a focus on international affairs and domestic politics. Ritula is a judge for the British Academy Book Prize, a Fellow of the London Centre for the Humanities and she is on the advisory board of the defence and security think tank RUSI, a trustee of the visual arts organisation INIVA and an ambassador for the British Asian Trust.

Further information

This event has live subtitles delivered by 121 Captions.

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