News Release
Friday 17 April 2026
WITH JUST OVER ONE WEEK TO GO UNTIL EALING BOOK FESTIVAL 2026 OPENS, EALING'S CREATIVE TALENT IS ABOUT TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE
As Ealing Book Festival prepares to welcome audiences from 29 April to 3 May, the creative talent of Ealing is getting ready to play its part.
The Festival officially launches on 23 April with a schools oracy event following a unique project led by wordsmith and poet Alain ‘Fusion’ Clapman with five local primary schools, Coston Primary School, Ravenor Primary School, St Vincent’s Catholic School, Grange Primary School and Dormers Wells Primary School. Poems on the subject of ‘Proud to be Me’ will be performed by 60 children at a special invite-only event.
Meanwhile, Ealing Book Festival’s hugely popular and entertaining Local Authors’ Showcase received a record 70 applications for 20 places this year. One story in particular tugged at the organisers’ heart strings. Ealing resident Jack Waddington will present I’m on a Journey To See You, Sam, which he began writing two years ago on the day his brother Sam died aged 26. Sam had a severe muscle-wasting condition – Duchene Muscular Dystrophy – which invariably leads to premature death.
Jack Waddington, author of I'm on a Journey to See You, Sam, and his brother Sam
Participating authors at the Local Authors' Showcase 2025
Jack explains: “He was my best friend, my brother, the one I laughed with. I was his carer – I showered and changed him, took him to hospital appointments but he was my safety blanket – he calmed me down. His death was sudden, seven days before his birthday. We were planning a big celebration.”
That was March 2024 – and since then Jack has been keeping a diary – effectively writing to Sam about his life and his feelings about their time together, and their separation. It deals with grief, survivor guilt, care giving and what Jack calls the “weird admin of death”.
Jack will appear at the Local Authors’ Showcase at the University of West London on Friday 1 May alongside 19 other local authors who will each have two minutes to pitch their latest books.
Jack will appear at the Local Authors’ Showcase at the University of West London on Friday 1 May alongside 19 other local authors who will each have two minutes to pitch their latest books.
Organiser of the Local Authors’ Showcase, Andrew Smith, says “It’s wonderful to have so many applications this year although of course it’s very hard to select just 20!”
Such is the success of the Local Authors event that Ealing authors will be part of an additional Family Day on 9 May in the Dominion Centre in Southall. In addition to two children's story time events led by local children’s authors there will be a poetry workshop with artist and poet Narvir Singh.
Ealing-based poet James Pendle will also be roaming the Festival performing ‘on request’ poems.
Tickets are selling fast for the Festival which launches to the public on 29 April at University of West London with a talk by one of its most celebrated alumni, Jung Chang. This event is one of several that have sold out, although some tickets are still available for talks with Anthony Horowitz, Alan Johnson, Simon Jenkins, Naz Shah MP, Mary Portas, John Robb on Oasis, Andrew Graham Dixon, Lucy Steeds and Oyinkan Braithwaite. For children aged 7-12 years old, there is also an event with Stephen Mangan and Anita Mangan at Questors Theatre.
Catherine Jaquiss, Chair, Ealing Book Festival, said: “We are delighted with the strong response to this year’s Festival. We can all be proud of the amount of creative talent and community support we have in Ealing. We are particularly delighted to be expanding the Festival this year to Southall, creating a special family event with local creative talent with the support of Ealing Libraries.”