Saturday

All Day
Free Book Shop & Lounge
Free books for all ages and a place to hang out, meet new people and read

11am
Workshop - Writing Your Own Story
by Yomi Ṣode & Willkay Oddking
for children

Yomi Ṣode is an award-winning Nigerian British Writer. His debut collection Manorism will be published by Penguin in 2022. Willkay Oddking is an artist, graphic designer and art director. He has worked with leading brands such as BBC and Adidas as well as musicians Giggs and Stormzy.

12pm
Book Signing - Kasim Ali
Signing copies of Good Intentions

Kasim is an Assistant Editor at Penguin Random House. He was longlisted for the 4th Estate B4ME Short Story Prize and shortlisted for Hachette's Mo Siewcherran Prize. He has had a short story published in The Good Journal, and is currently writing his first novel.

1:30pm
Workshop - Reading and Drawing Activity
by Dapo Adeola
for children

Dapo Adeola is an award-winning illustrator, author and character designer. His books are well-loved by many including Look Up!, Clean Up! and Hey You! written by Nathan Bryon, which won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2020.

3pm
Panel Talk - East Side Voices
June Bellebono, Sharlene Teo and Norman Erikson Pasaribu
Hosted by Kristen Vida Alfaro

June Bellebono is a community organiser, event producer and writer. Their interest and work lays in trans liberation, the intersection of queerness and grief and amplifying voices on the margins. Sharlene Teo is a Singaporean writer based in the UK. She is the winner of the inaugural Deborah Rogers Writers’ Award for Ponti, her first novel. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Esquire UK, Magma Poetry, and Eunoia Review. Norman Erikson Pasaribu is a poet and writer. His first collection of short stories in Indonesian was shortlisted for the 2014 Khatulistiwa Literary Award for Prose.

Kristen Vida Alfaro is Publishing Director of Tilted Axis Press. A writer and organizer, she led labor and anti-racist organizing at the Barbican. She continues this work with United Voices of the World and Art Workers Forum.

4pm
Workshop - Making History Podcast
by Moya Lothian-McLean

Moya is a freelance journalist and content specialist based in London, who works across editorial, radio and video. Moya hosted and scripted Human Resources, a Broccoli Content production on the truth of Britain’s involvement in the slave trade.

7pm
Africa Is Not A Country
Dipo Faloyin in Conversation with Adesuwa Osewa

Dipo Faloyin is a senior editor and writer at VICE, where his work has a specific focus on culture, race and identity across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. His writing has also featured in Dazed, i-D, The Huffington Post, Refinery 29, Prospect and others. He was born in Chicago, raised in Lagos and currently lives in London. Adesuwa Osewa is a Problem Solver at creative management consultancy B+A, consulting domestically and internationally for clients such as Clinique, Nike, Patreon, Converse and many more. She is also a Board Member for Don’t Sleep on Us, a Mentor for Creative Access, DJ and Host of radio show Oya Let’s Chat.

Sunday

All Day
Free Book Shop & Lounge
Free books for all ages and a place to hang out, meet new people and read

11am
Book Signing & Workshop - The Rapping Princess
by Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee is the author of beloved children’s books Rapping Princess and My Hair. She has always loved books and yearned to see more stories that featured children like her. My Hair was Highly Commended in the 2017 FAB Prize for writing.

12pm
Talk - Homecoming: Voices of the Windrush Generation
by Colin Grant

Colin Grant is a historian and author of five highly praised books: Negro with a Hat: The Rise and Fall of Marcus Garvey (2008), I and I: The Natural Mystics Marley, Tosh and Wailer (2011), Bageye at the Wheel (2012), A Smell of Burning (2016), and Homecoming (2019). He is an Associate Fellow in the Centre for Caribbean Studies, and teaches creative non-fiction writing, most recently for Arvon and Sierra Nevada College.

1pm
Workshop - Getting into Publishing and How to Make Your Own Zine
by Bad Form

Bad Form is a books magazine. Writing about everything from book reviews, to reading lists, to opinion pieces about the publishing industry.

3:30pm
Panel Talk - The Power of Children’s Literature
Aimée Felone and Marssaié
Hosted by Rose Lewis

Aimée Felone is the co-founder and Managing Director of Knights Of, a publisher of children’s literature that focus on commissioning writers and illustrators from a diverse range of backgrounds. Marssaié is the Creative Director of Knights Of and a Brand Designer, celebrating the vibrancy of culture through authentic stories. Rose Lewis is a bookseller and archivist. She has owned a bookshop in Hackney for over 20 years selling specialist books. Rose currently works with Sistah Space, a domestic abuse charity advocating and working with Black women affected by domestic and sexual abuse.

5:30pm
Romance and Love
Candice Carty-Williams, Jendella Benson and Bolu Babalola, hosted by Danielle Vitalis

Candice Carty-Williams is a multi-award-winning writer and author of the Sunday Times bestselling Queenie. Her new book People Person comes out later this month. Jendella Benson is Head of Editorial at Black Ballad, an award-winning online media platform for Black women, her debut book Hope and Glory has just hit the shelves! Acclaimed writer of books, scripts, and culture pieces, Bolu Babalola is a self-confessed “romcomoisseur”, writing stories of dynamic women with distinct voices who love and are loved audaciously. Our host for the night Danielle Vitalis is a phenomenal actress and writer starring in beloved shows and films, from Attack the Block to I May Destroy You.

This event will be first come first served