The seventeenth Chiswick Book Festival will take place between 10-15 September, starting at 7pm on Wednesday 10 September 2025 with our Local Authors Showcase at the George IV. Our full programme will be announced shortly. Sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date.
Celebrating Jane Austen’s 250th at Chiswick House
We are delighted to announce with Xanthe Arvanitakis, the director of Chiswick House & Gardens Trust that 2025 Festival will celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth with Gill Hornby, president of the Jane Austen Society and author of Miss Austen, which became a hit BBC drama.
Gill will be joined by the series’ director, Aisling Walsh, along with Phyllis Logan and Kevin McNally who play Jane Austen’s parents, who all live in Chiswick. More details here.
Marking the 80th Anniversary of WWII
This year’s Festival will also mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two. Among several events, Rosanna Greenstreet Greenstreet will talk about her new book Dear Loll: A Wartime Marriage in Letters, between a Manchester Guardian journalist and his wife.
Deadline for our 2025 Young Poets Competition
Entries for 2025 must be received by Thursday 5 June 2025. Now in its 15th year, the Chiswick Book Festival Young Poets Competition aims to encourage young people to enjoy creating their own poems. It is free and open to children (UK only) in Years 3 to 7, aged 7 or 8 to 12 in five year-group categories. Details here.
This year the prizes will be presented by the poet Dean Atta, who has been shortlisted for Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and CILIP Carnegie Medal.