Chiswick Book Festival Strengthens its Ties with Ealing
Authors from the area to feature as St. Benedict's School joins as sponsor
Left to right: Tony Palmer, Sue Elliott, Alex Gerlis. Picture: Chiswick Book Festival
September 8, 2026
The Chiswick Book Festival will strengthen its long-established ties with the Borough of Ealing this September, with St Benedict’s School joining as a Diamond Partner and a strong line-up of Ealing writers appearing across the six-day programme.
The partnership follows St Benedict’s successful support of the Ealing Book Festival earlier this year and reflects the growing collaboration between the two neighbouring literary communities.
St Benedict’s will sponsor the Saturday afternoon event titled Double Cross, Double Bill: Spies in Fact & Fiction, in which Ealing author Alex Gerlis interviews fellow spy novelists Charles Cumming and Jane Thynne. The school says its involvement reflects a commitment to literacy, reading and the arts, and a desire to support events that inspire young readers and bring families together. Dina Potier, the school’s PR and Communications Manager, said the partnership with the Ealing Book Festival had been enormously valuable and that extending this support to Chiswick felt like a natural next step.
Ealing’s presence in the programme goes well beyond sponsorship. The acclaimed filmmaker Tony Palmer will speak at Chiswick House & Gardens as part of a Beatles panel marking sixty years since the band filmed the Paperback Writer video in the grounds. Historian Sue Elliott will appear at the opening night Local Authors Showcase at the George IV pub. The Festival will also mark fifty years since the death of Agatha Christie, who spent much of her early life in Ealing, with authors Cathy Rentzenbrink and Sophie Hannah exploring her enduring appeal and influence.
The Festival’s director, Torin Douglas, notes that the relationship between Chiswick and Ealing is long-standing. A third of Chiswick’s homes lie within the Borough of Ealing, and the Chiswick Book Festival itself grew out of the Ealing Literary Festival held in Chiswick in 2007 and 2008. In recent years the Festival has held events with Gunnersbury, Pitzhanger Manor and the University of West London, and in 2024 helped facilitate and promote the launch of the revived Ealing Book Festival. It also continues to support Read Easy Ealing, one of the reading charities it raises money for.
This year’s Festival opens on Wednesday 9 September with the Local Authors Showcase, hosted by Jojo Silva, who has led the same event at the Ealing Book Festival for the past three years.
Book tickets for the Local Authors' Showcase
Events continue across Chiswick House, St Michael & All Angels Church and Hogarth’s House, where the Festival will close on Monday 14 September. The wider programme features an impressive national line-up, including Samira Ahmed, Nick Clegg, Alf Dubs, Robert Hardman, Fergal Keane, Ben Macintyre, Blake Morrison, Kate Mosse, Adele Parks, Tony Parsons, Mary Portas, Anthony Seldon and Jacqueline Wilson.
The Chiswick Book Festival is a non-profit community event and has raised £170,000 for charities since 2009. All profits this year will be donated to St Michael & All Angels Church, Read for Good, Koestler Arts and Read Easy Ealing. With new partnerships, returning supporters and a strong presence from Ealing’s literary community, the 2026 Festival continues to build on its cross-borough heritage.
The 18th Chiswick Book Festival runs from 9–14 September . For tickets, programme details and updates, visit the Festival’s website.
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