Chiswick Book Festival

26/08/2026

We at Chiswick Book Festival share the sadness of so many to hear that much-loved icon Dolly Parton has passed 🙏🏽

Dolly’s incredible ‘Imagination Library’ initiative gifted hundreds of millions of books to little ones across the 🌍 a legacy that will shine as brightly as her 🎶

Encouraging children to enjoy reading instead of scrolling through their phones is The National Year of Reading’s big challenge 💪

The Reading Agency’s Head of Research & Evaluation Dr Carina Spaulding, author Nigel Twumasi and Laura Henry-Allain MBE discuss how to get children reading for fun with Alison Stewart of the Children’s Media Foundation at a special event supported by The Children’s Media Foundation and Action for Children’s Arts. 🎭 Come along and join the conversation ✨

📚Helping Children to Read for Pleasure in the Digital Age
📍Theatre at the Tabard
🗓️ Sat 12 Sep 2026
⏰ 12:00PM
🎟️ £10

REPOST Parents Dolly Parton’s legacy will live on in so many ways, including on the bookshelves of millions of children. ❤️📚

Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and the millions of fans who loved her.

📷: Getty

26/08/2026

Young Poets Prizegiving ✍️🏆

Poet and Hounslow Community Development Officer Christopher Jarvis will present the prizes for the Chiswick Book Festival Young Poets Competition.

Now in its 16th year, the competition attracts entries from many local schools and is supported by ChiswickW4.com.

Free to attend, but booking essential!

📍St Michael & All Angels Church
🗓️ Friday 11th September
⏰ 4.30pm
🎟️ Free to attend but booking essential (link in bio)

25/08/2026

Young Poets Prizegiving✍️🏆

Poet and Hounslow Community Development Officer Christopher Jarvis will present the prizes for the Chiswick Book Festival Young Poets Competition.
Now in its 16th year, the competition attracts entries from many local schools and is supported by ChiswickW4.com.

Free to attend, but booking essential 🙏🏽

📍 St Michael & All Saints Church
🗓️ Friday 11th September
⏰ 4.30pm

Get your tickets now via link in our bio 👆🏻

25/08/2026

Looking for that end of holiday read? 🧐

Georgina Moore has you covered…

Her book, River of Stars was the winner of the Good Housekeeping UK Good Books August collection and we are thrilled that Georgina will be speaking to Natasha Poliszczuk at the festival this year to discuss the rich rock ‘n’ roll heritage of her hood.

📍Theatre at the Tabard
🗓️ Sunday 13th September
⏰ 3pm
🎟️ £10

Get your tickets via the link in bio!

REPOST Georgina Moore I am over the moon that River of Stars is the winner of the Good Housekeeping UK Good Books August collection. It is judged by a panel of Good Housekeeping readers which means so much. GH readers know their books. The gorgeous paperback out next week will have this rather wonderful ‘Winner’ sticker on it. One of the GH readers said about River of Stars ‘It had a hold on me from the beginning to the end.’

River of Stars will be available next week in all good bookshops and in Tescos and Sainsbury’s.

💜🧡💛🩷🧡💜💛🩷💜💛🩷🧡💜💛💜🩷🧡💜🩷

25/08/2026

Looking for that end of summer read? 🧐

Georgina Moore has you covered.

Her book, River of Stars was the winner of the Good Housekeeping UK Good Books August collection and we are thrilled that Georgina will be speaking to Natasha Poliszczuk at this year’s festival to discuss the rich rock ‘n’ roll heritage of her hood.

📍 Theatre at the Tabard
🗓️ Sunday 13th September
⏰ 3pm
🎟️ £10

Get your tickets now! Link in bio

25/08/2026

Looking for the end of summer read? 🤓

Georgina Moore has you covered.
Her book, River of Stars was the winner of the Good Housekeeping UK Good Books August collection and we are thrilled to share that Georgina will be speaking to Natasha Poliszczuk at this year’s festival.

📍Theatre at the Tabard
🗓️ Sunday 13th September
⏰ 3pm
🎟️ £10

See more and buy tickets via links in bio.

24/08/2026

Local Authors Showcase 2026

📍 The George IV Boston Room
📅 Wednesday 9th September 2026
🕛 7PM
🎟️ £12

The Chiswick Book Festival begins on September 9th in The George IV
pub, when we showcase the wealth of local talent that Chiswick has to offer.

Two well-known local figures – the Rev Martine Oborne, vicar of St Michael’s Church, Elmwood Road, and Karen Liebreich, founder of gardens charity Abundance London – will talk about their books at the Local Authors Showcase 2026. This year it will be hosted by a new presenter, Capital Xtra DJ Jojo Silva.

Each of the 20 authors has just two minutes to describe their book, in front of a packed audience, making it a fun, fascinating evening.

All human life is here. Fiction: from sexism in the Church of England to crime and stories set in New England, Germany and Greece; Fantasy, sci-fi and circus stories for Young Adults and children; History and memoir: from a house of spies and a dating agency to a restored house in Umbria... and non-fiction: from apples and pears to business ethics, poems and games.

Other speakers will include the New Scientist podcast editor Rowan Hooper; the author of the FT Guide to Business Ethics Pablo Lloyd; Sue Elliott, who has written the history of the newly opened Trent Park House of Secrets in Enfield and Sir Robert Lechler, Professor Emeritus at King’s College London. Two novelists recently featured on ChiswickW4.com will also be speaking about their latest books – Dan Batchelor and Rebecca Thornton.

This event will sell out soon with many tickets already sold so buy your tickets now to avoid disappointment.

https://www.chiswickbookfestival.net/2026-local-authors-showcase-preview/

23/08/2026

A list of events coming up in the next few months. American friends and readers please note - with my sincere apologies - that the Mysterious Bookshop talk has been postponed until 2027. There may still be some cabins available on the Queen Mary 2 for the Atlantic crossing from New York City to Southampton. Venice Noir is taking place in Venice, Italy, not on the beach in Los Angeles...

23/08/2026

Screening: Quartermaine’s Terms by Simon Gray

📍 The Chiswick Cinema, Screen 2
📅 Sunday 14 September
🕛 4.30PM
🎟️ £12

In partnership with The Chiswick Cinema, join us for a screening of a season of films written by Simon Gray.

Quartermaine’s Terms stars John Gielgud, Eleanor Bron and Edward Fox reprising his stage role as the lonely, quietly devoted St John Quartermaine who watches colleagues marry, separate and pursue ambitions while his own life stands poignantly still.

Wry, humane and deeply moving. It is a subtle study of time, disappointment and endurance.

Buy your tickets now – bookings are via the Chiswick Cinema website https://www.chiswickcinema.co.uk/movie/quartermaines-terms/

23/08/2026

Chiswickbuzz Online Book Club: Patrick Gale

Online - Wednesday 9th September - 6:00PM

All details and bookings here https://www.ticketsource.com/chiswickbookfestival/chiswickbuzz-online-book-club-patrick-gale/2026-09-09/18:00/t-ldegppv

Just finished the wonderfully moving Love Lane, by Patrick Gale. If you enjoy beautifully written books about family, secrets and humanity in all its glory, then I think you’ll love it too.

Patrick will be joining us online on Weds 9th September 6-7pm to discuss Love Lane with us. All are welcome at this special Chiswickbuzz Online Book Club event, as part of The Chiswick Book Festival.

Tickets £4. Booking link here: https://www.ticketsource.com/chiswickbookfestival

The zoom link will be emailed to you in the afternoon of the event.

(NB and nothing beats a gorgeous novel by a shady pool)