The North London Book Fest is a brand-new book festival coming to Alexandra Palace from 21-24 March! With events for both adults and children, we have a genuinely amazing line-up with headliners including Natalie Haynes, Lemony Snicket, Laura Bates, Michael Rosen, Costa-winner Stuart Turton, Erin Kelly, Robin Ince and Peter Hain.
We would like to offer discounted tickets to local residents so that you can enjoy even more of the weekend!
For 50% off book fest events in the Theatre please use NLBFCLOFF50
For 20% off book fest events in the other spaces please use NLBFCLOFF20
Book tickets here: https://www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/north-london-book-festival/
Featuring deep dives for crime and thriller fans, talks & workshops by children’s authors, discussions on modern parenting, the environment, sexism, food culture and being Muslim in Britain.
We’ll be asking questions about AI and creativity. We’re launching much-anticipated new titles from bestselling novelists and showcasing some of the year’s most exciting debuts, such as Leo Vardiashvili who is in conversation with Cecile Pin and Robin Lustig.
The action kicks off on Thursday 21 March with pub quiz night in the festival village when discerning quizzers will pitch their puzzling mastery against the fiendish mind of quiz book author Frank Paul – ‘superstar of the world of quizzies’.
This is followed on the Friday 22 March by an evening of intrigue with a round-up of the latest thought-provoking crime and political thrillers, hosted by award-winning author, Maxim Jakubowski, ahead of a packed festival across Saturday 23 March and Sunday 24 March (further details below).
THURSDAY 21 MARCH 2024
FESTIVAL LAUNCH EVENT: ‘THE CRYPTIC PUB QUIZ BOOK’ NIGHT WITH FRANK PAUL
(7pm, East Court)
Discerning quizzers, come pitch your puzzling mastery against the fiendish mind of Frank Paul – ‘superstar of the world of quizzies’.
Quizzers expect to be delighted and perplexed by wordsearch poems, jokes and rebuses, a bewildering encounter with a sphinx and a confounding murder mystery. With rounds like Motion Picture Mixture, Eight Degrees of Kevin Bacon, Gogglebox Jigsaw and Chemical Element Blind Date. Are you ready to have your mind bent, blown and boggled!
This is the perfect evening for discerning quizzers, quiz book lovers or people looking for a diverting evening out with friends.
‘It’s like a brilliant escape room had a baby with a cryptic crossword’ Darragh Ennis, The Chase
FRIDAY 22 MARCH
THEATRE
CRIME AND THRILLERS NIGHT
(7pm, Theatre)
Cosy up with leading crime and thriller authors for a thought-provoking evening of intrigue – that’s sure to delight diehard crime and thriller fans or someone simply looking for a gripping read. Award-winning author Maxim Jakubowski chairs both crime and thriller panels.
Crime Panel with Leigh Russell, Charlotte Langley & William Hussey
The Blame – Charlotte Langley discusses her debut crime thriller exploring police corruption and misogyny, currently optioned for TV by a major UK producer. Who can you trust? When the DCI in charge become the prime suspect.
Revenge Killing – international bestselling author Leigh Russell, discusses the latest instalment of her Geraldine Steel series, which have sold over a million copies worldwide. Can Geraldine Steel help her friend to uncover the truth?
Jericho’s Dead – William Hussey discusses the second novel in the ground-breaking crime series – featuring crime fiction’s very first Traveller detective.
Thriller Panel with Sunny Singh & Peter Hain
Hotel Arcadia – Sunny Singh discusses her explosive thriller set in a luxury hotel under siege by terrorists.
The Lion Conspiracy – Peter Hain, Labour Peer and former senior government minister, discusses the final book in his trilogy of environmental thrillers.
SATURDAY 23 MARCH
THEATRE
MICHAEL ROSEN
(1.30pm, Theatre)
Michael Rosen, beloved children’s author, poet, presenter broadcaster and activist, will delight audiences with readings from a selection of picture books for young children including The Big Dreaming – a modern classic about love, hope and the dreams that sustain us. More resonant tales from the master storyteller!
LEMONY SNICKET IN CONVERSATION WITH JACK MEGGITT-PHILLIPS
(4pm, Theatre)
Our very own Biblio-buzz winning children’s author Jack Meggitt-Phillips talks to internationally renowned bestselling author of thirteen volumes of A Series of Unfortunate Events about his latest book Poison For Breakfast – a cautionary tale about the author’s own demise. ‘For curious children and adults alike’.
ERIN KELLY IN CONVERSATION WITH JANE FALLON
(7.30pm, Theatre)
Erin Kelly, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Skeleton Key and He Said She Said, discusses her latest gripping and ingenious new novel The House of Mirrors, a standalone novel, which revisits the characters from her much-loved debut The Poison Tree. Erin is in conversation with Jane Fallon, the Queen of revenge comedy whose latest novel Over Sharing is out now in paperback.
‘A bold, beautiful, sexy, full-throttle thriller: immaculately constructed with rich details’ Nicci French
TRANSMITTER HALL
NADEINE ASBALI – VEILED THREAT: ON BEING VISIBLY MUSLIM IN BRITAIN
(1.30pm, Transmitter Hall)
Nadeine’s life changed overnight. As a mixed-race teenager, she had unknowingly been passing as white her entire life – until she decided to wear the hijab. Nadeine Asbali explore themes of identity, belonging and navigating life as a visibly Muslim woman in Britain.
‘A compelling exploration of how a piece of cloth can transform your role in the fabric of society’. Dr Layla Aitlhadj, director of Prevent Watch
PARENTING PANEL WITH DR BETH MOSLEY AND STU OAKLEY, HOSTED BY NELL FRIZZELL
(3pm, Transmitter Hall)
Journalist, writer and Vogue columnist, Nell Frizzell talks to Dr Beth Mosley author of Happy Families: How to protect and support your child’s Mental Health and Stu Oakley, The Queer Parent: Everything You Need to Know From Gay to Ze, about their evidenced based practical guides to modern parenting.
KEVIN MOROSKY, BLACK WOMEN ALWAYS: CONVERSATIONS ON LIFE, CULTURE & CREATIVITY (4.30pm, Transmitter Hall)
Film auteur and Chief Creative Officer, Kevin Morosky, invites the women he considers his most trusted advisors, closest friends, and biggest inspiration to explore how their impact shapes culture and nourishes society.
Kevin is joined by Gynelle Leon, founder of cult plant shop PRICK LDN, performer and writer Kelechi Okafor and mother, grandmother, artist and activist Mpho Mckenzie.
HUMA QURESHI IN CONVERSATION WITH SARA NISHA ADAMS
(6pm, Transmitter Hall)
Two novels set in our local area! Huma Qureshi’s enchanting debut Playing Games explores sisterhood and the moral questions of drawing on others’ lives for creative inspiration. She will be in conversation with Sara Nisha Adams, acclaimed author of The Reading List, whose latest book The Twilight Garden is a life-affirming story of small spaces, small pleasures – and a community lost and found.
JAY OWENS – DUST: THE MODERN WORLD IN A TRILLION PARTICLES
(7.30pm, Transmitter Hall)
Jay Owens takes us on a journey to uncover the profound impact of dust on our planet and human life in the 21st century. Drawing on a rich blend of history, science, and personal experience, Owens reveals the hidden consequences of environmental devastation caused by the relentless pursuit of profit and power.
‘Superb’ Daily Telegraph
‘Brilliant’ Sunday Times
‘Eye-opening . . . impressive’ Guardian
‘Powerful’ Nature
CREATIVITY PAVILION
EVE WERSOCKI MORRIS- THE WILDSTORM CURSE & THE BIRD SINGERS
(2pm, Creativity Pavilion)
Join award-nominated and bestselling children’s author Eve Wersocki-Morris for a super-interactive and spookily fun creative writing workshop!
Sharpen your pencils to create your own mythical monsters and write them into a suspenseful story.
Hear eerie extracts from Eve’s magical mystery books The Bird Singers and The Wildstorm Curse to get your ideas soaring. Perfect for young writers and illustrators aged 8+ and especially enjoyable for those with dark imaginations!
SUNDAY 24 MARCH
THEATRE
AN AFTERNOON WITH NATALIE HAYNES
(2pm, Theatre)
Author Natalie Haynes (‘a rock star mythologist’ – Washington Post) the bestselling Pandora’s Jar and Trojan War, A Thousand Ships, is standing up for the Classics at the North London Book Fest. Natalie writes for the Guardian. She is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4: nine series of her show, Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics, have been broadcast on Radio 4: all series are available now on BBC Sounds. She will make series 10 in 2024.
‘Haynes is a master of her trade . . . She succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories’ Daily Telegraph
‘Haynes is a brilliant classicist as well as a stand-up comedian’ – Neil Mackay, Herald
‘Natalie Haynes is beyond brilliant’ – Amanda Foreman
LAURA BATES – FIX THE SYSTEM NOT THE WOMEN
(4.30pm, Theatre)
Sunday Times bestselling author and founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, Laura Bates confronts audiences with her first hand accounts and shocking evidence in a blazing examination of the societal systems that fail to protect women, and is a rallying cry for reform.
‘Powerful’ Sunday Times
‘A persuasive page-turner’ Observer
STUART TURTON – THE LAST MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD
(7.30pm, Theatre)
Author of Costa winner The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Stuart Turton discusses his new novel in which the last survivors of a catastrophic global event must solve a murder in race against time to save what’s left of the world.
‘Stu Turton has done it again. I finished The Last Murder at the End of the World last night and it might just be his barmiest, cleverest and creepiest mystery yet’ Tom Hindle
‘Brilliant…intoxicating…enough horror, mystery, and crime to keep anyone enthralled’ The Independent
TRANSMITTER HALL
ANDY STANTON IN CONVERSATION WITH ROBIN INCE
(Midday, Transmitter Hall)
Benny the Blue Whale: A Descent into Story, Language and the Madness of ChatGPT takes on AI as it changes the world at an astonishingly frightening speed – can this jumble of algorithms really mimic the spontaneity of human thought? Could it one day replace human authors like him for good? And are we soon to be ruled over by despotic robot overlords?!!
Andy Stanton Vs ChatGPT – presided over by comedian, author, broadcaster and populariser of scientific ideas Robin Ince.
MATT CAIN IN CONVERSATION WITH MATTHEW TODD
(2pm, Transmitter Hall)
Matt Cain, author of Becoming Ted and The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, discusses his utterly joyful new novel about 20 years of love and friendship, culminating at Manchester Pride – One Love.
Join Matt, former journalist and former Editor-In-Chief of Attitude magazine as he catches up with Matthew Todd, a multi award-winning writer and also former editor of the UK’s best-selling gay magazine, Attitude. His book, Straight Jacket, the first British book about LGBT mental health, was voted Best LGBT Book Of The Year by Boyz readers and has been described as ‘utterly brilliant’ by Owen Jones in The Guardian, as ‘life saving’ and ‘game changing’ by readers.
ROMAN WOMEN WITH ELODIE HARPER, HONOR CARGILL-MARTIN AND EMMA SOUTHON
(3.30pm, Transmitter Hall)
Forget everything you know about the classics, and join our Roman Women’s panel for alternative her-stories
Elodie Harper discusses The Temple of Fortuna the final instalment of Sunday Times bestselling Wolf Den series, hailed by The Times as ‘one of the best trilogies since Wolf Hall’.
Honor Cargill-Martin charts the story of Messalina, the third wife of Emperor Claudius and one of the most notorious women to have inhabited the Roman world.
Emma Southon, co-host of the History is Sexy podcast, offers an irreverent and funny alternative history of Ancient Rome in A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women.
DIANE PURKISS IN CONVERSATION WITH LUCY LETHBRIDGE
(5pm, Transmitter Hall)
Diane Purkiss discusses English Food: A People’s History taking audiences on a unique journey through the centuries, exploring the development of recipes and rituals for mealtimes such a breakfast, lunch and dinner, to show how food is both a reflection of and inspiration for social continuity and change.
Diane is in conversation with Lucy Lethbridge author of the brilliantly entertaining and authoritative history of two centuries of British tourism in continental Europe, Tourists: How the British Went Abroad to Find Themselves. This event is sure to satiate food lovers and historians alike!
‘Absolute gem…English Food is a fabulous read. A richly entertaining and enlightening social history of England…Superb’ Sunday Times
LEO VARDIASHVILI & CECILE PIN IN CONVERSATION WITH ROBIN LUSTIG
(6.30pm, Transmitter Hall)
Novelist Leo Vardiashvili discusses his extraordinary debut, Hard by a Great Forest with Cecile Pin, author of Guardian Book of the Year and Women’s Prize for Fiction longlisted Wandering Souls.
These two stunning debut novels depict a refugee experience. Leo Vardiashvili came to London thirty years ago as a refugee from Georgia when he was twelve years old. Hard by a Great Forest is a winding pursuit through magic and mystery returning to a lost homeland – a rare, searching tale of home, memory and sacrifice – of one family’s mission to rescue one another and put the past to rest.
Wandering Souls explores the bonds that connect people even when separated by borders or death itself, through the story of a family fleeing Vietnam.
CREATIVITY PAVILION
EWA JOZEFKOWICZ – THE WOLF TWINS
(11am, Creativity Pavilion)
Join Waterstones Children’s Book Prize shortlisted author Ewa Jozefkowicz for a creative writing workshop focusing on her two most recent middle grade novels, The Dragon in the Bookshop and The Wolf Twins, and explore the key ingredients of a good mystery story.
Children will write their own exciting openings and invent incredible mythic creatures.
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