The University of West London (UWL) hosted two events on Thursday 24 April for Ealing Book Festival, with the aim of celebrating the joy of books and writing.
“We are absolutely delighted to welcome you all here today as part of the fantastic Ealing Book Festival,” said Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Sara Raybould as she opened the first event for local school children. “We are the university in your community, and we have lots of events happening here, so we hope you come and see us again soon.”
The first event was a free session for primary school children in the Borough of Ealing with local author and television and radio presenter Konnie Huq. One hundred and forty-five children plus their teachers attended and many more watched the session on live stream. Konnie led a fun and creative session about her ‘Cookie!’ series of books, getting the children to draw the characters and talking about empathy and characterisation plus demonstrating science experiments! She also talked about themes in the books including climate change and coding and asked the children to share their thoughts on these topics.
“I brought a group of children who wouldn’t usually get access to this type of event, and they loved it, and it supported them educationally with their reading and writing,” said Diane Harris from Christ the Saviour Primary School in Ealing Broadway. “It was inspirational for them to be in a university too.”
More than fifty people attended the second event with Guardian journalist Lanre Bakare about his much heralded first book ‘We Were There: How Black Culture, Resistance and Community Shaped Modern Britain’ which brings into the spotlight extraordinary and often overlooked Black lives in cities across the UK. Lanre was in conversation with Dr Margaret Andrews, a Patron of the Friends of the Huntley Archive which celebrates the pioneering work of Eric and Jessica Huntley who founded one of Britain’s first Black bookshops and later publishing houses in West Ealing 50 years ago. In attendance at the event was Eric Huntley himself.
“There’s no way I could have written my book without archives like the Huntley Archive around the country,” said Lanre.
“Hearing Lanre talk with such passion about the writing and research process for ‘We were There’ was both fascinating and inspiring,” said Director of Library Services Davina Omar. “I am really looking forward to reading the stories and events covered in the book.”
Both Konnie and Lanre signed copies of their books for attendees after their sessions.
Read more about the Ealing Book Festival here www.ealingbookfestival.com
