The Evening Standard in association with Netflix, has announced that tickets are on sale for its inaugural Stories Festival which will take place at Picturehouse Central on 24-26 September 2021, with three days of inspirational storytelling in the heart of London. The first programme details have also been revealed and celebrate a diverse range of talent, including leading authors, poets, screenwriters, debut novelists and comedians. These storytellers will share their methods and unique approaches to live audiences across this weekend extravaganza. The Reading Agency is thrilled to be the Stories Festival charity partner. Tickets can be purchased at www.stories.standard.co.uk.
The festival will include live readings, talks and workshops from the likes of Dr Amir Khan (The Doctor Will See You Now), Anita Rani (presenter and author of The Right Sort of Girl), Ashley Walters (Star of Netflix series Top Boy), Candice Brathwaite (Author of I Am Not Your Baby Mother), Daisy Buchanan (author of Insatiable), Ed Balls (Former Shadow Chancellor and author of Appetite: A Memoir in Recipes of Family and Food), Holly Smale (author of Geek Girl), Jack Guinness (model and author of The Queer Bible), Jed Mercurio (Creator of Line of Duty) and Rabina Khan (Lib Dem councillor and author of My Hair is Pink Under This Veil). The Festival will also feature a showcase from Stormzy’s #Merky Books (Penguin Random House).
We’re very excited that at 7pm on 24 September, there’ll be a special Quick Reads event as part of the Festival. Number one international bestseller Kate Mosse and award winning author Alex Wheatle invite you to join them in an intimate conversation hosted by The Reading Agency. The two renowned authors will share their motivations, experiences and discuss how reading has the power to change lives. The Reading Agency is Charity Partner of ES Stories Festival and CEO Karen Napier will welcome guests to this exclusive event. The session will also include an exciting Quick Reads announcement…. hear it here first!
Emily Sheffield, Editor, Evening Standard: “We at the Evening Standard are excited to be launching this inaugural storytelling festival, a major creative collaboration with partner Netflix that showcases some of the best and brightest young creative talent that our Capital and the UK has to offer.”
Anne Mensah, Vice President of Original Series at Netflix, said: “What an incredible lineup of speakers and guests! I’m thrilled that, together with the Evening Standard, we’ve been able to build a festival programme that explores storytelling in all its many guises. A great story can come from anywhere, so we are incredibly excited to be able to support a forum which brings together the next generation of young emerging talent with established authors and screenwriters.”
The Stories Festival is the ultimate event to support and inspire the next generation of storytellers. From science, health and wellbeing, fiction and crime to poetry and children’s stories, every genre will be fully explored, with more line-up details to be announced. Further information can be found at www.stories.standard.co.uk.
