Classics Fest 2025 | Why Cicero Matters

Thursday 15th May | 6.30pm

Why Cicero Matters

ClassicsFest is made possible by the generous support of The Community Foundation Tyne & Wear andNorthumberland – Newcastle Culture Investment Fund; The David Family Foundation; The Pen & Palette Club Fund within the North East Fund for the Arts; Classics for All; The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Newcastle University. Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Join Prof. Arlene Holmes-Henderson and Dr. Vittorio Bufacchi as they discuss his book Why Cicero Matters, an engaging and provocative account of Cicero, emphasising his contemporary relevance.
We will also be joined by young writers from New Writing North’s Young Writers’ programme. They have been working with performance poet and director Kirsten Luckins.
£10 to include a glass of wine.

Vittorio Bufacchi | Photo credit to Marcin Lewandowski | soundofphotography.com ©

Dr Vittorio Bufacchi is a Senior Lecturer in the Philosophy Department at University College Cork, Ireland. I did my PhD (1994) at the London School of Economics. He specializes in political philosophy, especially on questions of social injustice, human rights, political violence, and Cicero. His last two books are on Cicero (Why Cicero Matters – Bloomsbury 2023) and philosophy and Covid-19 (Everything Must Change: Philosophical Lessons from Lockdown – Manchester University Press 2021).

Twitter (@BufacchiV), Facebook, Instagram

Arlene Holmes-Henderson | Image provided by promoter

Arlene Holmes-Henderson is Professor of Classics Education and Public Policy at Durham University. After studying Classics at Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge, Arlene qualified as a schoolteacher and taught in high schools for more than a decade before returning to academia. Arlene has conducted international comparative research in the USA as a Fulbright Scholar, in Australia as a Churchill Fellow and in New Zealand as an Erskine Fellow. She is Vice-Chair of the Universities Policy Engagement Network with national responsibility for championing Arts and Humanities research with policymakers. She is founding director of Durham’s Centre for Classics Education Research and EngagementS (CERES) and is an expert advisor to international governments, parliaments and assessment agencies. Her current project explores how Aristotle’s rhetoric can inform contemporary oracy education. She was awarded an MBE for Services for Education by King Charles III in the Birthday Honours 2023 and was elected a member of the Academia Europaea in 2024.

For more information, see her website www.profarlenehh.com and follow her on X @profarlenehh.

For the full Classics Fest 2025 events CLICK HERE

A LIVE Lit & Phil Event | £10 / FREE Exemption

Most events are free and take place at the Lit & Phil unless otherwise stated. Where there is a ticket charge, those on unemployment benefit and students are free.

Age recommendation for all events is 12 years+

All events must be booked in advance unless otherwise stated. Except for the ClassicsFest Competition Finale at Alphabetti Theatre.

(If you would prefer to book directly over the phone, please call the Library Desk team on 0191 232 0192 and they will be happy to help)