Note: there are some changes from the Festival brochure – see Updates and Amendments
See more details of Cookbook Festival events here
10am
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
10-11am: Supersize Your Jammy Dodgers
Take baking to the next level and make bigger biscuits! Half master craftswoman, half baker, Hattie Cufflin will teach you how to use things already in your kitchen to create a specialty mould for your biscuit gone large. Bigger is definitely better in biscuits. 8+ accompanied by an adult.
TGT Cookbook Marquee, Turnham Green Terrace, £10
CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL
11-12noon: Invincible Voices Creative Writing Workshop: FOR Children BY Children
Join Zoe Antoniades on a journey of story discovery, learning how to plot a tale, and plan a brand new story during the session.
Tabard Theatre, £3, Ages 6-11. Children must be accompanied by an adult, with their own ticket.
WORKSHOP
11-1pm: How to Self-Publish: Top Tips
Amer Anwar‘s first novel, Brothers in Blood, was picked as a Book of the Year by The Times and the Guardian and won the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award. But before being published by Little Brown, Amer had self-published the same book. His workshop tells how to self-publish, including top tips on marketing and getting yourself noticed.
Room 124, ArtsEd, 14 Bath Road W4 1LY (please go to main reception), £20
Watch here for more details
WORKSHOP
11-1pm: How to Structure Your Memoir
Do you have a story to tell but aren’t sure how to tell it or even where to start? Bring a notepad and a pen along to this enjoyable workshop and leave with a working structure for your book. With Cathy Rentzenbrink.
Room 124, ArtsEd, 14 Bath Road W4 1LY (please go to main reception), £20
Watch here for more details
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
11:15am-12:15pm: The Good Stuff – Cooking with Kids
Lucinda Miller – Lucinda is passionately dedicated to promoting children’s health and wellbeing. The first and best step is to educate kids about the importance of the food they eat and then encouraging parents and children to get more of the good stuff inside of them by cooking from scratch and eating together. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall considers her our nation’s first line of food defence. 8+ accompanied by an adult.
TGT Cookbook Marquee, Turnham Green Terrace, £10
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
12-12:45pm: Time to Eat The Magic Fridge
Jenny Linford is fascinated by the unseen ingredient of time in cookery and the role it plays in developing flavour, from the split-second timing of a caramel or the days required for fermentation. Alex MacKay’s focus is primarily upon showing you ways to save time; the culinary wizard will turn your fridge and freezer into a fresh food larder.
St Michael’s Cookbook Marquee, £15
CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL
12-1pm: Cressida Cowell
Meet the new Children’s Laureate – multi-million-selling, award-winning author Cressida Cowell, creator of the How to Train Your Dragon books (and DreamWorks films) and The Wizards of Once series. Cressida will talk about her latest book, The Wizards of Once: Knock Three Times, as well as How to Train Your Dragon, and will give tips on becoming an author or illustrator. Unmissable! Supporters include University of West London.
St Michael & All Angels Church, £5, Ages 7+ Children under 14 years of age must be accompanied by a responsible adult, with their own ticket.
12-1pm: Polly Devlin: Writing Home
Polly Devlin, writer, broadcaster and Chiswick resident, was born in a remote area in Co Tyrone, Ireland. Age 21, she won a Vogue talent competition and was catapulted into the heart of Swinging Sixties London, working with David Bailey and meeting Dylan, Lennon, Jagger, Yoko Ono, Peggy Guggenheim, Princess Margaret and many more. She talks to Amelia Fairney about her fascinating life and work.
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall, £8
12:30-1:30pm: Meat, Murder, Medicine and Martyrdom: Smithfield Stories
In Smithfield in the City of London, medicine, faith, justice, punishment and animal slaughter all share common ground, fertile for colourful characters. The noted critic Graham Holderness tells the stories of Wat Tyler, Sweeney Todd, Jack the Ripper, Heinrich Himmler and others, as rooted in the ground of Smithfield. Chaired by Julian Worricker.
Tabard Theatre, £8
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
12.30-1:30m: Vitally Vegan Workshop with Ruth Wood of Crucial Café
Whether you’re a novice vegan or want to expand your repertoire, Ruth Wood, Nutritionist, Founder of Crucial Food and Crucial Cafe at the Hogarth Club, alongside Head Chef Norbert Billson, will show you how to create your own nourishing + delicious plant-based dishes. Ruth will share her favourite easy recipes, as well as discuss the nutritional benefits of each dish. Book early for this hands-on workshop with tasters to take away. Children 8+ must be accompanied by an adult.
TGT Cookbook Marquee, Turnham Green Terrace, £10
1pm
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
1:30-2:15pm: Diabetes & Weight Loss
Giancarlo Caldesi was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2012 but as a chef, where do you turn to solve a problem? The kitchen, of course. With the help of a nutritionist, he and Katie Caldesi developed a low-carb diet. Giancarlo not only lost 4 stone but his diabetes is now in remission. The dynamic couple will demonstrate how we can fill up but not fatten up.
St Michael’s Cookbook Marquee, £15
1:30-2:30pm: Fantastic Fiction: Diana Setterfield & Stacey Halls
Diane Setterfield’s first novel, The Thirteenth Tale, was adapted for BBC Two by Christopher Hampton with Vanessa Redgrave, Olivia Colman and Sophie Turner. Her new novel is Once Upon A River, about the disappearance of three little girls and the effect it has on their small town – and it has been named Waterstones Book of the Month for September. Stacey Halls’ The Familiars is one of the hottest debuts of 2019 and is set at the time of the Pendle Witch Trials in 1612. The two historical novelists talk with author Cathy Rentzenbrink.
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall, £8
1:30-2:30pm: CHANGE OF PROGRAMME***
Sadly Peter Hennessy is unable to appear in the advertised session Winds of Change: Britain in the Early Sixties because of a slipped disc. He has sent his deep apologies. In his place, we are pleased to offer an alternative speaker, Rhik Samadder (see below).
We will automatically transfer tickets to cover the new event, but ticketholders are also being given the option of a full refund or a ticket for another event. If you have not received an email about this, please email boxoffice@chiswickbookfestival.net.
1:30-2:30pm: Rhik Samadder: I Never Said I Loved You
This is a vital, moving and darkly funny memoir by a powerful new voice. The actor, broadcaster and Guardian columnist Rhik Samadder has received astonishingly good reviews for his new memoir I Never Said I Loved You, the story of his lifelong battle with mental health. The book is set to join Matt Haig’s Reasons to Stay Alive and Bryony Gordon’s Mad Girl as a lead of the genre and is structured around 10 topical and deeply personal ‘How to’ chapters (how to grieve, how to live, how to let go). It begins with a pivotal and unlikely backpacking trip with his ageing mother for his 30th birthday, finally opening up about years of depression. It is the story of how Rhik learned to deal with depression, to let go, and then keep going. With unique humour and honesty, he has created a powerfully rich, funny and poignant exploration of the light and dark in all of us. Rhik talks to Caroline Frost about his remarkable book.
The Observer said: “This is one of the most eccentric and uplifting memoirs I have ever read.” Read more here.
St Michael & All Angels Church, £8
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
1:45-2:30pm: Sushi Made Simple
Silla Bjerrum, founder of Feng Sushi and Seven Samurai Sushi winner, is as versed in sushi as anyone can be. An experienced teacher, you will be delighted in your new found ability to hand roll in a variety of styles. You will leave with all the basics to roll your own. 8+ accompanied by an adult.
Cookbook Marquee, Turnham Green Terrace, £10
CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL
1:45-2:45pm: Doodle Cat & the Superheroes
Author of Doodle Cat Wears a Cape, Kat Patrick, helps children discover their own special super-power. It could be eating all their vegetables or giving the best hugs or running the fastest? In this fun and interactive event children make a short comic book or zine where they are the star superhero. Supported by Orchard House School.
Children’s Marquee, £3, Ages 5-7 Children under 14 years of age must be accompanied by a responsible adult, with their own ticket.
2-3pm: The Hidden Horticulturalists **
**Note: Not 1.45pm, as stated in printed brochure
Head of RHS Libraries and Exhibitions Fiona Davison reveals the story of the remarkable young men who learned horticulture here, alongside Joseph Paxton, and helped to shape the way we garden today. From the Horticultural Society Garden in Chiswick (“a magnet to the best and brightest young gardeners”) to Australia and Bolivia, she tells David Shreeve tales of fraud, scandal, madness and plants.
Tabard Theatre, £8
WORKSHOP
2-4pm: Getting from First Draft to Finished
In this workshop on editing and restructuring, author Angela Clarke will teach you how to cut, trim, and shape your manuscript into a novel. Focusing on common mistakes and how to fix them; restructuring to add pace; and rethinking your creative work, this class will take your work to the next level.
Room 124, ArtsEd, 14 Bath Road W4 1LY (please go to main reception), £20
Watch here for more details.
3pm
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
3-3:45pm: The Flexible Pescatarian
The celebrated author of The Flexible Vegetarian, Jo Pratt now turns her focus to fish. Whether you’re trying to cut down on your meat intake, eat more healthily or simply love seafood, Jo’s unfussy, tried and tested recipes will help you put more fish on your dish.
St Michael’s Cookbook Marquee, £15
CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL
3-4pm: Somebody Swallowed Stanley
Everybody has a taste for Stanley, but he is no ordinary jellyfish. Most have dangly-gangly tentacles, but Stanley has two handles. Other jellyfish have a magical glow, but Stanley has stripes. Join Sarah Roberts and her new picture book with a powerful message about plastic pollution. Supported by Orchard House School.
Children’s Marquee, £3, Ages 3-7. Children under 14 years of age must be accompanied by a responsible adult, with their own ticket.
3-4pm: Happiness in the Workplace
Deny it all we might, work is significantly less enjoyable than it used to be. Some even claim we’re starting to see a burnout epidemic consuming the workforce. In his Sunday Times businessbestseller, The Joy of Work, Bruce Daisley set outs 30 ways to fall in love with your job again. He tells all to broadcaster and economist Dharshini David.
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall, £8
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
3-3:30pm: Knife Skills Workshop 1 (repeated at 3.30pm)
Hone your Knife Skills with Borough Kitchen. Knives are nothing short of the most fundamental cook’s tool. Get the most out of your knives and beware the danger of a dulled edge! Harness the time-saving, elegance enhancing power of a properly sharpened knife. Age 18 and above.
TGT Cookbook Marquee, Turnham Green Terrace, £10
3-4pm: A New Road: from Morris and Ruskin to Marthe Armitage
On John Ruskin’s 200th anniversary, we celebrate those (above) who put design and beauty at the heart of the industrial process, from Ruskin and William Morris to the wallpaper designer and printmaker Marthe Armitage, past Master of the Art Workers’ Guild (of which Morris was master in 1892). 
Armitage has lived in Chiswick most of her life; Morris lived here for six years before moving to Hammersmith.
With Owen Holland of The William Morris Society (William Morris’s Utopianism), Professor Robert Hewison of the Ruskin Centre (Ruskin and His Contemporaries), Marthe Armitage and Alison Harley (Editor, The Making of Marthe Armitage: Artist and Patternmaker). Chaired by Torin Douglas.
Supported by Morris & Co, William Morris Society and Chiswick Auctions.
St Michael & All Angels Church, £8
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
3:30-4pm: Knife Skills Workshop 2 (repeated from 3pm)
Hone your Knife Skills with Borough Kitchen. Knives are nothing short of the most fundamental cook’s tool. Get the most out of your knives and beware the danger of a dulled edge! Harness the time-saving, elegance enhancing power of a properly sharpened knife. Age 18 and above.
TGT Cookbook Marquee, Turnham Green Terrace, £10
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
4:30-5:15pm: Learn to make Gyoza – Japanese Dumplings
Dazzle with your Japanese dumpling wizardry. Gyoza are one of the most delicate and delicious staples of Japanese menus. Learn to master the precise assembly and correct cooking with Japanese cookery teacher Yuka Caves. 8+ accompanied by an adult.
TGT Cookbook Marquee, Turnham Green Terrace, £10
COOKBOOK FESTIVAL
4:30-5:15m: Flash in the Pan ***
We regret that John Whaite has had to withdraw for family reasons so this event will not take place.
Good food fast. TV chef and Great British Bake Off winner, John Whaite knows that we don’t always have time for slow-cooking. He presents one-pan wonders: straight-forward stunners that deliver flavour at speed. Each of his recipes can be cooked on the stove in no more than 45 minutes.
St Michael’s Cookbook Marquee, £15
4:30-5:30pm: The Profumo Affair
Tom Mangold was BBC Panorama’s senior reporter for many years and made a BBC documentary with Steve Anderson about the Jeremy Thorpe scandal. Now they’re making a film about the 1963 John Profumo-Christine Keeler scandal, which he covered for the Daily Express and in his book Splashed – A life from Print to Panorama – a hilarious account of much that went wrong during his long career.
St Michael & All Angels Church, £8
4:30-5:30pm: Livingstone’s London
As a passionate Londoner, Ken Livingstone has seen London change dramatically over the last 60 years. With a witty and worldly eye he talks to journalist and broadcaster Caroline Frost about his home town and the people, places and the politics that have shaped the landscape.
St Michael & All Angels Parish Hall, £8