Kensington's first book festival fills Our Lady of Victories on High Street, Sat 7 Nov, 10.30am to 5pm: three panels, signings, £10 tickets for Glass Door.
Kensington is getting its own book festival. The first Kensington Book Festival takes over the parish centre at Our Lady of Victories on Kensington High Street on Saturday 7 November, with three panel discussions, author signings and the Notting Hill BookShop selling on the day. Tickets are £10, and the organisers say every penny of ticket money goes to the Glass Door Homeless Charity.
Doors open at 10.30am and the day closes at 5pm. The festival’s own site says there are 200 community tickets, sold through the site and on Eventbrite, which listed them as available at £10 when we checked on 28 October.
“Reading for joy”
The festival’s theme is “Reading for Joy”. Claire Small, one of the organising team, told us what they are setting out to do:
“The mission of Kensington Book Festival is to champion reading for joy and promote community spirit by celebrating literature, reading, and the written word. The festival will spotlight authors from the Kensington community and beyond to centre books that inspire hope, wellbeing and creativity.”
She said what the team sees as setting it apart:
“We believe that a unique element of this festival is celebrating the rich diversity across RBKC local communities and beyond as well as a mission to raise money for the local Glass Door Homeless charity through our ticket proceeds.”
The festival’s website puts it more simply: “We want to give people a reason to put down their phones, pick up a book, and make new connections.” It describes the festival as a new community initiative, set up in 2026 as an unincorporated association by a team from publishing, broadcast media, education and community care.
Who is speaking
The flyer names nine authors, and the website promises “10 local and visiting authors” in all. Those named so far, with the book each is bringing:
- Anna Mathias, The Greyhound Diary: she edited her mother’s 1949 travel journal, which the festival says was a Daily Mail Book of the Week.
- Fr Nigel Woollen, The Lamb Will Conquer: the parish priest at Our Lady of Victories, the host venue, and author of several spiritual books.
- David Kalloo, Portobello Beach: born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, he founded Culturepulse magazine and directs the Notting Hill Carnival Pioneers Festival. Portobello Beach is the most recent of his four books.
- Gia Lulic, Joyful Journey: a west London writer.
- Antony Maurice-Nneke, Mind Castles: a consultant psychodynamics analyst and one of the festival’s co-founders.
- Jane Thynne, Midnight in Vienna: a former BBC producer and journalist, author of the Clara Vine novels that began with Black Roses and of the Fox and Fry series.
- Laetitia Nneke, The Joy Troll: a television producer who has worked on Strictly Come Dancing and Children in Need, and the festival’s founder.
- Sunny Ahonkhai, Seasons of Life: a social work consultant and speaker.
- Anna Orenstein-Cardona, The Tree of Hope: a Puerto Rican author whose debut picture book, the festival says, is award-winning.
The day, hour by hour
The festival has published this running order, though it says panel timings are still to be confirmed:
- 10.30am doors open
- 11.30am opening and welcome
- 12pm Panel 1: Mind, Body and Spirit
- 1pm author tables, sales and signings
- 1.30pm lunch break
- 2pm Panel 2: Community and Connection
- 3pm author tables, sales and signings
- 3.30pm Panel 3: Love Letters to Kensington
- 4.30pm author tables, sales and signings
- 5pm close
Getting there
Our Lady of Victories is at 235a Kensington High Street, W8 6SA, about three minutes’ walk from High Street Kensington station, according to the festival. It says the venue has a step-free entrance and accessible toilets.
What it means for you
If you want to go, book a £10 ticket through kensingtonbookfestival.co.uk or Eventbrite before the 200 run out. You can come and go through the day: the author tables open after each panel, so there are three chances to buy a signed copy. The festival also asks for volunteers and funders on its website, and people who want to give to Glass Door directly can do so through the charity’s donation page.
More dates for the weeks ahead are in our What’s On in Kensington round-up.
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