Black Book Festival and Education Expo 2026
Schedule
Sat Oct 24 2026 at 11:00 am to 06:00 pm
UTC+01:00Location
Goldsmiths, University of London | London, EN
About this Event
This grassroots festival is aimed at the African and Caribbean Diaspora and is a platform to showcase the books, authors and initiatives that the Black community is making in the book industry throughout the world.
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)
- Keynote interview
- How to Write, Publish and Market your Book
- Celebrating 100 Years of Black History
- New Voices, New Books
Education seminars (Paid ticket holders only 11.30am - 5pm)
- AI and the Education of the Black Child
- Black Scientist and Inventors: A New Platform for Schools
- Your Career: Launching Into AI and Automation
Main stage
- African-Dance performances
- Songs of Liberation performance
Awards:
- Best Children's Book Award 2026
- Lifetime Achievement Award
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.
Where is it happening?
Goldsmiths, University of London, 8 Lewisham Way, London, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00 to GBP 12.00
