Black Book Festival and Education Expo 2026
About this Event
This grassroots festival is aimed at the African and Caribbean community and is a platform to showcase authors, publishers and booksellers.
The event provides an opportunity for the global community to:
- listen to new and exciting Black writers and publishers
- learn how to write the book they always knew they had within them
- learn about the global Black book industry
- identify opportunities to publish and exhibit books on the Black experience.
Another aim of the festival is to raise much needed funds for Simon Education's SEADS Project, that provides free education resources and teacher training resources to schools in Africa and the Caribbean. The project currently supports 38 schools in 10 countries with a total student population of 35,000.
Entrance guidelines:
- Free entry to book expo with 50 stalls.
- Paid entrance to seminar presentations and book expo.
- Paid ticket holders to go to the front of the queue. Seminar tickets can be booked online or at the venue and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served, basis.
Festival DJ/Music
Provided by our own in-house Music (RnB, Afrobeats and Reggae) featuring DJ Rak
Writing & Publishing seminars (Paid ticket holders only 11.30am - 5 pm)
- Bestselling author Paige Lewin in conversation with author Sandra A. Agard
- How to Write, Publish and Market Your Book with author David Simon
- Celebrating 100 Years of Black History with authors Sista Shanice and Kandace Chimbiri
- New Voices, New Books - tba
Education seminars (Paid ticket holders only 11.30am - 5pm)
- AI and the Education of the Black Child presented by educationalist, David Simon
- Black Scientist and Inventors with publisher and author Michael Williams
- Your Career: Launching Into AI and Automation presented by AI consultant, Chinyere Simon
Main stage
- African-Caribbean Dance performance by Irie Dance Theatre
- Drumming and storytelling with Irie Dance Theatre
Family Tent ( free, 11.30am - 4pm)
- STEM workshops with Dr. Leonora Simon-Bleasdille
- Critical thinking workshops Dr Leonora Simon-Bleasdille and Mary Anderson
- Arts and craft workshop with Mary Anderson
- Black history and culture workshops Dr Leonora Simon-Bleasdille and Mary Anderson
Special STEM Workshop (8 years plus)
- Interactive STEM workshop with African American collective Bridges of Excellence
Awards:
- Bookseller of the Year Award presentation to Sulaiman Lee
- Lifetime Achievement Award to Arthur Torrington of the Windrush Foundation
About Simon Education
Simon Education was founded in 1987 by David Simon and Dr Leonora Simon-Bleasdille to run Saturday Schools in south London. The Saturday schools grew to ten in total and started pubishing Africentric education books and fiction books in the 1990s. It is estimated that Simon Education's services have supported 6000 students in the UK and 35,000 students in Africa and the Caribbean.
By the mid 1990s a new director had joined, Nneb Akpom-Simon, and the three directors set about making the company into an international organisation, which now sees it operating in 10 African and Caribbean countries through its SEADS Project. The SEADS project provides free teacher training to schools and free education resources. Simon Education has won numerous national and international awards for its published books, training programmes and educational services.
www.simoneducation.com
Highlights of the 2024 and 2025 Black Book Festivals.
The Black Book Festival and Education Expo team will make this year's event one to remember.
Come and listen to Paige Lewin with Sandra A. Agard talk about her new book, How to Love Your Afro and her work championing natural hair.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00 to GBP 12.00
