The first Barnsbury Book Festival celebrates curiosity, creativity and community around the Caledonian Road. The festival draws on a rich literary heritage: long before Andrew O’Hagan’s The Caledonian Road depicted the vibrant diversity of our little corner of north London, countless writers from Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle to George Orwell and Andrea Levy were writing from or about the streets and squares of Islington. 

St Andrews Church in Thornhill Square opened in 1854 and sits at the heart of the Barnsbury-Caledonian Road neighbourhood. After standing tall for more than 150 years, the spire was found to be in need of extensive repairs. St Andrew’s is not only a working church but a hub for community outreach: concerts, clothing swaps, children’s activities. With the aim of helping to ensure the church building can carry on serving the needs of the community a group of local readers, writers and artists had the bold (you could say in-‘spired’!) idea to organise a book festival to raise funds for restoration work. 

With the help of friends, neighbours, friends of friends and anyone who just loves books, we’ve put together what will be a fascinating three days of talks, discussions, fun and enlightenment - not to mention late night films. We look forward to welcoming you.