Streatham is hosting its first ever literature festival in celebration of inclusive stories, literature and spoken word as part of the annual Streatham Festival, at the initiative of local resident and publishing professional, Hannah Taylor.

The literature festival will spotlight local writers, authors and illustrators, as well as bringing in a few bigger names. There will be workshops and readings by writers, publishers, and illustrators; authors sharing experiences of being published, drag story time for children, as well as a short story competition for primary-aged children.

The festival has partnered with Moon Lane Ink CIC bookshop, who will be the bookseller for the festival. In collaboration with Lambeth Libraries, there will also be events to mark Black History Month.

The Literature Festival takes place from Friday 9 October to Sunday 18 October, with associated events all month long.

On Sunday 11 October, Streatham Space Project will host the Streatham Sunday Special – a day of workshops, readings and discussions followed by spoken word, music, and poetry.

Highlights from the Streatham Sunday Special include: a drawing workshop by award-winning children’s author and illustrator, Frann Preston-Gannon; a session on authors’ experiences of getting published, chaired by Festival Co-ordinator, Hannah Taylor; Hamed Amiri with The Boy with Two Hearts, chaired by The Bookseller Rising Star, Hamza Jahanzeb.

The day’s headline session will be Loud Black Girls featuring a panel discussion between Abiola Oni, Siana Bangura and Temi Mwale, of the Loud Black Girls anthology of female Black British writers from Slay in Your Lane’s, Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené. It will be chaired by Marcelle Mateki Akita, the Producer of the Royal African Society’s Africa Writes festival at the British Library.

Stand-up comedian, writer, former Match of the Day presenter, and Streatham resident, Kevin Day, will speak about his new book at a free event on Thursday 15 October at 7:30pm. Who Are Ya?: 92 Football Clubs – and Why You Shouldn’t Support Them. The book is a mix of comic football observation, friendly fan rivalry and quirky anecdotes. It features a foreword by Gary Lineker and a host of celebrity contributions and is partly autobiographical and laugh-out-loud funny. He will talk about the book with fellow local comedian and Crystal Palace fan, Chloe Petts at The Rabbit Hole pub in Streatham. Arrive early to secure your seat!

The Devil Rides Out with Dr. Johnson and Jane Austen. The Literature Festival also includes a fascinating downloadable literature walking tour of Streatham to be narrated by a celebrity resident! The walking tour podcast is produced in collaboration with The Ramblers and The Streatham Society, which is also sponsoring the tour.

Children’s Short Story Competition. The Literature Festival is also launching a short story competition for children – find out more about how to enter on the Streatham Festival website. A lesson pack for primary schools has been created to support the competition by Northwood Senior School and prizes have been donated by E & A Wates and The Indigo Tree in Streatham.

The Literature Festival is sponsored by Northwood Senior School and the Streatham Society. Streatham Festival is also proud to be working with Moon Lane Ink CIC bookshop to supply all the books that will be available to be signed at select events.

Due to Covid restrictions some of the festival events will be online only and the ‘real life’ events will have limited tickets. The Streatham Festival organisers are calling on Streathamites and Londoners to move fast and visit the festival website to book tickets and register for some of the many events and activities.

With the arts under such a huge threat from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the organisers feel the festival is needed more than ever.

Streatham Festival is hugely grateful to their main sponsors: InStreatham BID, Heart Streatham Magazine, The Vale Living, and Anthony Gold Solicitors.