News Release
Friday 20th February 2026
EXCEPTIONAL LINE-UP OF INTERNATIONALLY-ACCLAIMED AUTHORS AND RENOWNED FIGURES SET TO GRACE WEST LONDON FOR THIRD EALING BOOK FESTIVAL
Tickets are now on sale for the third Ealing Book Festival and can be purchased at www.ealingbookfestival.com/2026-programme. The programme, which runs from Wednesday 29 April to Sunday 3 May, features an exceptional and wide-ranging programme of internationally-renowned authors, a local talent showcase, events for families and schools, and local walks. International best-selling authors include William Boyd, Jung Chang, Anthony Horowitz, Robert Macfarlane and Blake Morrison, alongside leading figures in their fields including Dan Cruickshank, Andrew Graham-Dixon, Simon Jenkins, Alan Johnson, Stephen Mangan and Anita Mangan, Mary Portas, John Robb, Naz Shah, and up-and-coming talents Oyinkan Braithwaite and Lucy Steeds.
A special schools performance on 23 April launches the third Ealing Book Festival and is the culmination of a new oracy initiative, led by wordsmith and poet Alain ‘Fusion’ Clapman, to encourage primary school pupils in the London Borough of Ealing to get creative. The project reflects Ealing Book Festival’s commitment to promoting the advancement of literature, growing new audiences for the written word and inspiring readers and writers of all ages.
Opening the public events programme on Wednesday 29 April is an extraordinary opportunity for Ealing audiences to hear international best-seller, and University of West London alumna, Jung Chang speak about her highly-anticipated second novel.
The Festival will take place across the University of West London, Questors Theatre and Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery in Ealing. The Festival extends its thanks to all its supporters, including founding sponsor Savills, the University of West London and This Curious Life as well as the many generous partners who make the Ealing Book Festival possible.
Events at this year’s Festival include:
Jung Chang kicks off the Festival’s public programme with a rare chance to hear one of the University of West London’s most esteemed alumnae talk about Fly, Wild Swans, her much anticipated follow-up to the international bestseller Wild Swans.
William Boyd, author of 17 highly-acclaimed novels, will talk about his latest book The Predicament, which follows Gabriel Dax, travel writer and accidental spy, in a race against time with the highest stakes.
Anthony Horowitz, who has written over 50 acclaimed novels, will discuss his writing career and the latest of his bestselling series featuring Inspector Hawthorne, A Deadly Episode.
Robert Macfarlane, internationally-renowned for his writing on nature, people and place, joins the Festival to explore his latest book, Is a River Alive?
Blake Morrison, the poet, novelist and journalist, whose works have redefined the memoir form, will reflect on the moral complexities of life writing which he explores in his most recent work, On Memoir: An A-Z of Life Writing.
Andrew Graham-Dixon’s new book Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found was named The Times Art Book of the Year. Hear how newly-uncovered archival material has helped the eminent art historian and broadcaster to shed new light on the elusive 17th century artist.
Simon Jenkins, journalist and best-selling author, will explore America as it celebrates its 250th anniversary. His book A Short History of America: From Tea Party to Trump charts a narrative so astonishing that it often feels like fake news.
Alan Johnson, former Labour cabinet minister and bestselling author, explores the life and career of Harold Wilson in his latest book Harold Wilson: Twentieth Century Man. Join him to hear how Wilson was as much a part of the sixties as the Beatles and the Profumo scandal.
Mary Portas, retail pioneer, innovative businesswoman and acclaimed author, joins the Festival to discuss her book I Shop Therefore I am: The 90s Harvey Nicks and Me, in which she charts her transformation of Harvey Nichols while juggling the challenge of a sceptical all-male management team and raising two children.
John Robb, bassist and singer of The Membranes and bestselling author, DJ, and radio and TV presenter, looks at the rise, fall and resurrection of Oasis, the subject of his book Live Forever.
Naz Shah will talk about her first book Honoured: Survival, Strength and my Path to Politics, an unflinching and unforgettable story of her survival, resilience and political awakening which led to her election for Bradford West in 2015, following a bruising battle with George Galloway’s Respect Party.
Oyinkan Braithwaite, one of the most exciting new contemporary authors at work today, will discuss her latest novel Cursed Daughters, which follows her brilliant, highly-acclaimed and award-winning debut thriller My Sister, The Serial Killer.
An exciting programme of culturally-inspired talks has been curated to suit the artistic backdrop of Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery:
Dan Cruickshank, distinguished architectural historian and TV presenter, explores eight contrasting buildings in The English House. Join him to hear what these houses reveal about the development of the English home over time and what they tell us about the lives of their first occupants.
Lucy Steeds was described as the most lauded debut novelist in 2025 and her novel The Artist won the 2025 Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, the Waterstones Book of the Year 2025 and was long-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Hear Lucy discuss the novel in the perfect artistic setting of Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery.
The Ealing Book Festival programme includes the following event for families:
Sibling duo Stephen Mangan and Anita Mangan, are well known for their imaginative and funny children’s books. Stephen is a talented author, scriptwriter and actor with a huge range of credits across TV, radio, film and theatre, while his sister Anita is a talented graphic designer and illustrator. Festival families (children aged 8-12) will be guaranteed laughs as they meet the extraordinary inhabitants of Weird Street in Welcome to Weird Street.
This year’s Ealing Book Festival Schools Programme will see two leading children’s authors discuss their work with invited pupils from a number of Ealing primary schools. Farhana Islam will talk about the second novel in her hilarious and heart-warming series The Misadventures of Mina Mahmood, and Kate Pankhurst will introduce pupils to her book Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World.
The Ealing Book Festival Schools Programme also includes a new oracy initiative to encourage pupils to get creative, which sees wordsmith and poet Alain ‘Fusion’ Clapham working with pupils from five Ealing primary schools on their own performance pieces. This project will culminate in a celebration event where the pupils will be able to perform their work
The ever popular Local Authors’ Showcase will return once again, this time taking place at the University of West London, and promises to be another lively and entertaining evening showcasing the very best writing talent from across Ealing.
The Festival is also delighted to be offering the popular Ealing Book Festival Guided Walking Tour again this year, hosted by local historians Alan Fortune and Elaine Wein.
Catherine Jaquiss, Chair, Ealing Book Festival, said: “The 2026 Ealing Book Festival promises one of our most exciting programmes yet, with a truly inspiring line-up of significant and well-known authors. This year, our partnerships with the University of West London and Questors Theatre allow us to welcome significantly larger audiences to our most popular events, while our continued collaboration with Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery offers a dedicated programme of culturally-inspired talks. We remain enormously grateful for the generous support of local businesses and the wider community, without whom the Ealing Book Festival would not be possible.”