Maureen Lipman, Janet Suzman, Howard Jacobson and Rob Rinder at Jewish Book Week
Festival features Booker Prize winners, former MPs, Oscar nominees and bestselling authors
We are not called the People of the Book for nothing. As wintry weather slowly fades, what better way to welcome the advent of spring than with Jewish Book Week, this year celebrating its 75th edition — with its biggest programme yet.
The festival, which is not just London’s longest-running literary event, but also said to be its best, is this year holding a landmark jamboree of events, ranging from familiar faces to unexpected delights. As planning for the 2026 events began almost as soon as doors closed on the 2025 Jewish Book Week, there are treats in store (and, of course, books to buy).
Based at the state-of-the-art Kings Place in King’s Cross, Jewish Book Week is also offering pop-up events this year, with venues including the British Museum, the British Library and the Bridge Theatre.
This year’s stellar line-up — with over 160 speakers— includes Booker Prize and Olivier winners, former MPs, Oscar nominees and international bestsellers, including David Grossman, Janet Suzman, Simon Schama, Esther Freud, Michael Gove, Cassidy Janson and Claudia Roden.
The programme organisers, the Jewish Literary Foundation, say there is something for everyone in this year’s festival, which runs from February 28 to March 8. There will be the largest free fringe offering yet, £5 tickets for under-30s and free online sessions.
Highlight features include the Genesis Emerging Writers sector and the inaugural Jewish Playwrights Programme.
This year’s festival opens with internationally renowned pianist Margaret Fingerhut, MBE and violinist Bradley Creswick, Leader Emeritus of Royal Northern Sinfonia, performing works by composers including George Gershwin, Fanny Mendelssohn, Felix Mendelssohn and Ernest Bloch. Following this will be a panel featuring festival favourites Howard Jacobson, Claudia Roden, Simon Schama and Hugo Rifkind, paving the way for nine days of events covering everything from the crisis of the BBC, the case for assisted dying, to Israel behind the headlines, the polarisation of the Culture Wars and an appreciation of Carole King in words and music.
Tying the entire festival together will be an exploration of the breadth of Jewish culture in the UK and beyond. With sessions ranging from Mamdani: A New New York and Jewish Stories in the Square Mile to The Lines we Draw: A Jewish Journalist’s Search for Identity and Across the Divide: Jewish and Arab Israeli Women, the festival will confront head on the diversity of Jewish experience in an ever-changing world.
Jewish Book Week director Claudia Rubenstein says: “Jewish Book Week has always been a meeting place for writers across continents and years, and what better way to celebrate this than with our 75th edition, which promises to be more ambitious, eclectic, and challenging than ever-before. We hope this programme honours what has made Jewish Book Week so special, while looking to the future and ensuring that Jewish writing and ideas continue to thrive for generations to come.”
Jewish News’ Top 10 Book Week events:
1. Mel Brooks, The Almost 100 Year Old Man, is the hot-ticket closing event on 8 March at 8.15 pm, celebrating the undisputed king of comedy. On stage will be Maureen Lipman with special guests Andy Nyman and Marc Antolin from the current London cast of The Producers, alongside Allan Corduner and Rob Rinder, saluting the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winner.
2. The formidable actress Dame Janet Suzman, South African-born but long British based, talks through her stellar career with broadcaster Francine Stock. 1 March, 12.30 pm.
3. Are we sitting comfortably? David Aaronovitch, Vernon Bogdanor and former Labour minister Margaret Hodge look at whether Britain is still a Goldene Medinah for its Jewish community. 1 March, 6.30 pm.
4. Britain has long been proud of its action in taking in 10,000 unaccompanied children on the Kindertransport in 1938 and 1939. But as Leon Duval and Trudy Gold will discuss, there were dark sides to the Kindertransport story. 1 March, 5 pm.
5. The Dean of the London School of Jewish Studies, Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum, will lead a fascinating tour of the British Museum to show off its treasures relating to Purim and Persia. 2 March, 12-2.30 pm.
6. Staying with Purim, join renowned cookery writer Silvia Nacamulli at JW3 for two demonstrations on how to make an Italian Purim. 3 March, 12-2pm or 6.30-8.30 pm.
9. A deep dive into what we might think of the BBC, with pundits Natasha Hausdorff, Robin Lustig, Anthony Seldon, under the watchful eye of The Sunday Times’ and Jewish News’ Josh Glancy. 8 March, 11 am.
10. And finally, a chance to learn about Israel behind the headlines with expert observers Matti Friedman and Anshel Pfeffer. 8 March at 12.30 pm.
Tickets are on sale now via the Kings Place box office and online at kingsplace.co.uk For the full programme, go to jewishliteraryfoundation.co.uk/jewish-book-week
In-person events are held at Kings Place, 90 York Way, King’s Cross, London N1 9AG, in addition to select events across London. All online events are free to attend on Zoom.
comments