牛津的文学家包括：

　　Lewis Carroll (real name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), Student and Mathematical Lecturer of Christ Church.

　　Colin Dexter who wrote and set his Inspector Morse detective novels in Oxford. Colin Dexter still lives in Oxford.

　　John Donaldson (d.1989), a poet resident in Oxford in later life.

　　Siobhan Dowd Oxford resident; who was an undergraduate at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.

　　Michael Innes (J. I. M. Stewart), of Christ Church.

　　P. D. James who lives part-time in Oxford.

　　T. E. Lawrence, "Lawrence of Arabia", Oxford resident, undergraduate at Jesus, postgraduate at Magdalen.

　　C. S. Lewis, Fellow of Magdalen.

　　Ian McEwan, formerly an Oxford resident for many years.

　　Iris Murdoch, Fellow of St Anne's.

　　Mike Philbin, wrote his infamous Hertzan Chimera novels/stories in Oxford.

　　Iain Pears, undergraduate at Wadham College and Oxford resident, whose novel An Instance of the Fingerpost is set in the city.

　　Philip Pullman who was an undergraduate at Exeter.

　　Dorothy L. Sayers who was an undergraduate at Somerville.

　　J. R. R. Tolkien, undergraduate at Exeter and later professor of English at Merton.

　　不少文学作品以牛津为中心，当中包括：

　　Jude the Obscure (1895) by Thomas Hardy (in which Oxford is thinly disguised as "Christminster").

　　Zuleika Dobson (1911) by Max Beerbohm.

　　Gaudy Night (1935) by Dorothy L. Sayers.

　　Brideshead Revisited (1945) by Evelyn Waugh.

　　A Question of Upbringing (1951 ) by Anthony Powell

　　Second Generation (1964 novel) by Raymond Williams

　　The Children of Men (1992) by P. D. James.

　　His Dark Materials (1995 onwards) by Philip Pullman

　　牛津市亦成为多部电影的拍摄场地，当中包括：

　　Accident (1967年)

　　Another Country (1984年)

　　Howards End (1992年)

　　Shadowlands (1993年)

　　The Madness of King George (1994年)

　　The Saint (1997年)

　　Wilde (1997年)

　　Quills (2000年)

　　Iris (2001年)

　　哈利波特-神秘的魔法石 (2001年)

　　哈利·波特与密室 (2002年)

　　哈利波特-火杯的考验 (2005年)

　　The Oxford Murders (2007年)

　　The Red Violin (1998年)

　　Oxford Blues (1984年)

　　The Golden Compass (film) (2007年)