11/02/2025 · 14:55

Four Weeks to LBF 2025

The London Book Fair’s has announced speakers and topics for the 2025 editions of its hugely popular offering for authors and illustrators: the three-day Author HQ programme, and one-day Writers’ Summit conference.

The Summit conference will take place at Novotel West London aiming to provide authors with practical tools for their writing career, enabling them to get their work noticed by agents, publishers and readers in an increasingly crowded market. The day will feature workshops, panel discussions, industry and expert advice, as well as networking opportunities.

Speakers include authors Alice McIlroy and Abiola Bello, Capital Xtra radio presenter Jojo Silva and leading experts from London Writers Salon, Simon & Schuster, Alliance of Independent Authors, Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency and Maggie Marr Legal, among others.

With a keynote delivered by Rose Sandy, Founder of the HarperCollins Author and Design Academy, topics discussed on the day will include: how writing courses can help authors get published; what to expect from the publishing process; top tips for securing an agent. Guests will also enjoy a live, guided journaling session, to help them absorb the lessons of the day and return to the conference renewed and connected.

The Author HQ programme of talks and panels will feature: Elif Shafak, Adele Parks, Bobby Palmer, Beth O’Leary, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, William Hussey, Gill Lewis and Georgina Moore alongside key industry experts from Penguin Random House UK, Bonnier Books, The Booksellers Association, BKS, Meet Cute Book Festival, Black British Book Festival, The Women’s Prize Trust and more.

Talks are designed to share insights into current trends and hot topics in the book industry, as well as offer advice for aspiring, emerging and established authors. The 2025 programme will cover tips for growing an audience on social media; how to prepare for publication; the romance category and its future trajectory; how the publishing industry can support dyslexic authors and readers, and more.

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08/02/2025 · 15:30

A much missed friend

This month (on 6 February) I’m remembering the life of my great friend, poet, mentor and fellow bookseller, Rudi Holzapfel.

I’ve written many times about our meeting and working together. This year i’m leafing through my archive of his work and looking back over the 20 years since Rudi passed away.

If you would like to see and hear more, have a look at the website where there’s a number of readings, by Rudi, from selected poems. Some of his collections are still available, often at a price for the limited editions.

Picture copyright Joe Kenny. Fethard, Co. Tipperary.

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06/02/2025 · 14:29

Not too late to start a habit

Over the last year or more I’ve made a habit of reading one piece of verse every night. Not from a specific poet, rather a broad selection of poems, speeches, letters and snippets from plays – all contained in A Poem for Every Night of the Year edited by Allie Esiri.

It features works by A A Milne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Wordsworth, Keats and Shakespeare – as you might expect, but you’ll also find Christina Rosetti, Spike Milligan, Paul McCartney, Yeats, Plath, Simon Armitage and more.

There’s everything from haiku, to the Gettysburg Address, from Stevie Smith to ‘Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough’ (Betjeman). It’s comforting to read words we loved and those we were forced to love, my Mum’s favourites and those my Grandad stumbled over. There’s also something soporific abut sitting and quietly contemplating the poets words just before you sleep.

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