Line Up Revealed for Chiswick Book Festival's Local Authors' Showcase

Opening event taking place at the George IV

Torin Douglas introduces a Book Festival event at the George IV

August 17, 2024

The line up for the opening event of this year’s Chiswick Book Festival has been revealed. 22 writers will be taking part at the ever-popular Local Authors’ Showcase at the George IV pub in Chiswick High Road on Wednesday 11 September. 

Speaking for just two minutes each, and hosted by the Festival’s programme director Jo James, they will include Larry Dann, a child actor who became a stalwart of The Bill; Andy Bell, the father of Georgia Bell, bronze medallist at the Paris Olympics; Geoffrey Thomas, an 85-year-old Welsh preacher; and Ellen Alpsten, a historical novelist with a feminine perspective on 1066.   

Fresh from watching his daughter Georgia win a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, Channel 5 political editor Andy Bell will launch his first novel, Sovereign Territory, a fast-moving thriller set in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum. By contrast, Judith May Evans’ debut novel, Colours of Sienna, is a tale of love and adventure set in the medieval landscape of Tuscany. As seen on TikTok, the first novel by TCS Miller – who till recently worked behind the counter at Bookcase in Chiswick – is a psychological thriller, Apathy and Atrophy. And the first book by playwright and producer Simon Thomsett, who ran the Hackney Empire for 14 years, is The Rules, an urban noir novel set in the world of boxing. We’ll also hear from well-established novelists: Caroline Lamond’s latest book is Well Behaved Women, a novel set in the Golden Age of Hollywood; Ellen Alpsten turns from the Russia of her Tsarina series to Britain and Scandinavia in The Last Princess, the first of a new trilogy, offering a feminine take on 1066; and Jon Elkon’s first two novels were published by Andre Deutsch in the last century: his latest is a dark thriller about a gay martial artist, Soho Warrior, written in the 1990s but only now published.

Fine art specialist Cynthia Coleman Sparke will introduce her book Russian Decorative Arts, while The Art of Creativity – 7 Powerful Habits to Unlock Your Full Potential – will be discussed by Susie Pearl, a former celebrity PR at MTV, including tips from well-known creatives including David Lynch and Paul McCartney. Sarah Main is a teacher who has taught thousands of people how to cook: The Independent Cook is her debut book, written for students, anyone moving out of home for the first time, or just wanting to take their cooking skills to the next level. Kathleen Birch has spent over 50 years in the beauty industry, from beauty therapist on a worldwide Royal Viking Cruise Line to her own private skincare practice, helping clients achieve crystal-clear youthful skin. She now shares her secrets in her first book, Ageless Skin. And David Shreeve, director of the Conservation Foundation, will talk about his illustrated book, Great British Elms: The story of an iconic tree and its return from the brink, after so many were lost to Dutch elm disease.

At the age of 10, Simon Hudson had a Dr Martin Luther King Jr speech on his bedroom wall. He taught for 33 years at a secondary school and, on retirement, wrote History Through the Black Experience, a unique and powerful look at 500 years of history through the eyes of black people and how they have shaped our world. Lauren Neal is a champion of gender equity and career progression within the traditionally male-dominated tech and engineering sector. In Valued at Work, a Business Book Awards 2024 Finalist, she reveals tried-and-tested approaches that organizations can take to motivate and retain women. Indlieb Farazi Saber is a writer for Al Jazeira English and BBC World Service and one of the storytellers in The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human, a collection of short memoirs offering a contemporary view of Muslim cultures around the world. And Geoffrey Thomas is an 85-year-old Welsh-speaking preacher, who gives talks all over the world: his varied range of books includes The Holy Spirit, which follows the scriptural revelation of the Spirit from Genesis to Pentecost to today, written for believers and non-believers.

Larry Dann grew up in Burnaby Crescent and attended Chiswick’s famous Corona Academy: as a child he acted with Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger, Spencer Tracy and Deborah Kerr. He later worked with Joan Littlewood in Oh What a Lovely War, starred in four Carry On films and became a household name as Sgt. Alec Peters in ITV’s The Bill. He’ll talk about his life in Oh What a Lovely Memoir. Much less happy real-life experiences will be discussed by Tony Inwood in his memoir Flying Under the Radar, a story of hope and healing after spells in care, and by Sibel Roller in The Rooster, a memoir of her father’s time in a World War 2 concentration camp in Croatia.

From the Indie Picture Book Award Winner 2024 Robert Tregoning comes What the Crow Saw Below, a fable-like tale of hope, illustrated by Greg Stobbs: Robert’s previous West End career (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda the Musical) gives him an affinity for rhythm and lyrics. Anne Bowes illustrates the Cedric the Bear adventures, written by Lucia Wilson: the latest is Cedric in Amsterdam, where the friendly bear admires the paintings by Rembrandt, Vermeer and Van Gogh, the Delft ceramics and the dolls’ houses. And Kate Woodard is a children’s book author from the United States who moved to Chiswick three years ago from Brazil: her latest book is Petrified Pete, a story about facing fears.

The Observer wrote: “Chiswick may be Britain’s most literary location” following the first edition of the Festival’s online archive, The Chiswick Timeline of Writers and Books. This now lists more than 400 authors who have lived in Chiswick W4 and written a book. They include two winners of the Nobel prize for literature, one Booker prize winner, two Oscar winners, a poet laureate - and several writers from our Local Authors Showcase over recent years.

The 16th Chiswick Book Festival will take place from 11- 18 September. For tickets, programme details and updates, visit the festival’s web site.