Connecting Communities with Stories

Wimbledon BookFest is delighted to be partnering with the prestigious Lahore Literary Festival for a second year to bring a vibrant strand of events celebrating South Asian voices to the Festival this autumn.

Designed to enlighten, connect communities and spark conversations that can create a better world, this year’s expanded programme is headlined by acclaimed broadcaster Mishal Husain who will discuss her new book Broken Threads: My Family from Empire to Independence and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi examining the rise of Islamophobia in British politics and culture, the subject of her book Muslims Don’t Matter.

Encompassing fiction, non-fiction, comedy and performance, the programme features novelists Aliya Ali-Afzal and Saima Mir, Wimbledon based actress and writer Sudha Bhuchar who will perform her humorous one-woman show Evening Conversations, while Subhadra Das and Roma Agrawal bring their enlightening and entertaining family friendly comedy show about history, science and innovation to the Festival.

Wimbledon BookFest’s commitment to providing an essential platform for marginalised writers to share their stories sees a collaboration with Untold Narratives, a development programme working with women writers in Afghanistan, for a unique event featuring contributors to My Dear Kabul, a courageous chronicle of life under Taliban rule.

With South-West London being home to one of the largest Korean communities in Europe, this year’s Festival marks the start of an exciting focus on Korea beginning with Seoul Food, a celebration of the country’s vibrant food culture, as Su Scott and Seji Hong discuss identity, immigration and how food can connect people across the world, whatever their heritage.

Fiona Razvi, Festival Founder and Director said:

“We believe in the huge power sharing stories has to help understand the world and each other. At a time when freedom of expression is increasingly under attack, we are delighted to be expanding our global partnerships and collaborations to offer world class speakers and exhilarating events that truly connect across borders and open up a world of ideas and connections to our audience here in Wimbledon.”