the london book fair
11–13 March 2025
Olympia London

Previous Authors of the Day

The annual programme showcases one author on each day of the fair. The schedule includes events, book signings, photo calls and meetings with international publishing contacts, plus a headline slot in the London Book & Screen Week event series.

2018 Authors of the Day

Joanna Trollope

Joanna Trollope is the author of twenty highly acclaimed and bestselling novels, including The Rector’s Wife, Marrying the Mistress and Daughters in Law. She was appointed OBE in 1996, a trustee of the National Literacy Trust in 2012, and a trustee of the Royal Literary Fund in 2016. She has chaired the Whitbread and Orange Awards, as well as being a judge of many other literature prizes including chairing the BBC National Short Story Awards for 2017. 

Jacqueline Wilson

Jacqueline has been on countless shortlists and won many awards, including the Smarties Prize, and the Children’s Book Award. As well as receiving an OBE in 2002 for Services to Literacy in Schools, Jacqueline was awarded a DBE in 2008. Over 40 million copies of Jacqueline Wilson’s books have now been sold in the UK alone and they have been translated into 34 different languages. She is one of the UK’s best-selling authors of the past decade.

Mihkel Mutt

Representing Estonia, Mihkel Mutt is a renowned, provocative writer and columnist. Originally a theatre and literary critic he made his debut as a writer in the 70s, and has now published over 40 titles across a variety of genres. In recent years he has focused his attention on reporting history and current affairs and his work is typically personified by his biting irony and hyperbolic wit.

Nora Ikstena

Nora Ikstena is one of the most influential and prominent prose writers and essayists in Latvia. She is known for her elaborate style and detailed approach to language, often reflecting on life, love, death and faith. She has written 30 literary works and her most recent novel, Soviet Milk, was shortlisted for an Annual Literature Award for best prose and will come out in the UK by Peirene Press.

Kristina Sabaliauskaitė

Writer and art historian Kristina Sabaliauskaitė is the most widely read contemporary Lithuanian author. Born in Vilnius and based in London since 2002, her four-part historic novel series, Silva Rerum, is a long-term number-one international bestseller. The novel is widely regarded among the most important Lithuanian literary works of the last decade.

2017 Authors of the Day

Roddy Doyle

General Trade Author of the Day, Tuesday 14 March

Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958 and is the author of eleven acclaimed novels including The Commitments, The Snapper, and The Van. He also has written two collections of short stories, Rory & Ita, a memoir about his parents, and most recently, The Guts. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

Olga Tokarczuk

Market Focus Author of the Day, Wednesday 15 March

Adored by her readers and lauded by critics and literature scholars, Olga Tokarczuk is the author of nine novels and several collections of short stories and essays. She has won many awards and her books have been translated into 29 languages, making her the most widely translated Polish female writer. 

Michael Morpurgo

Children’s Author of the Day, Thursday 16 March

Michael Morpurgo, OBE, is the former Children’s Laureate and best-selling author of over 140 books. His works include Private Peaceful, Kensuke’s Kingdom, The Butterfly Lion and War Horse. Michael and his wife started the charity Farms for City Children in 1976, offering hands-on experience to children from urban primary schools.  

Andrzej Sapkowski

Cross Media Author of the Day, Thursday 16 March

Andrzej Sapkowski was born in 1948 in Poland. He studied economy and business, but the success of his fantasy cycle about the sorcerer Geralt de Rivia turned him into a bestselling writer. He is one of Poland’s most famous and successful authors, selling more books in Poland than Stephen King or Michael Crichton. His novels were the inspiration for the bestselling WITCHER computer game franchise. Andrzej is represented by Patricia Pasqualini Literary Agency. 

2016 Authors of the Day

Professor Nick Bostrom

Quantum Author of the Day, Monday 11 April

Nick Bostrom is Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at Oxford University and founding Director of the Future of Humanity Institute and of the Programme on the Impacts of Future Technology within the Oxford Martin School. He is the author of some 200 publications. He previously taught at Yale, and he was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the British Academy. In addition to philosophy, Bostrom has a background in physics, computational neuroscience, and mathematical logic.

Marian Keyes

Tuesday Author of the Day, 12 April

An international publishing phenomenon, Marian Keyes is one of the most successful Irish novelists of all time. A global number one bestseller, she has written 12 novels, been translated into 36 languages, and sold over 33 million copies worldwide. Storming into print in 1995 with Watermelon, Marian created a genre that she has dominated and redefined ever since. Her latest collection of essays, Making It Up As I Go, is published on 11 February 2016 by Michael Joseph.

Tracy Chevalier

Shakespeare Author of the Day, Wednesday 13

Tracy is the author of eight novels and is best known for the international bestseller Girl with a Pearl Earring, which has sold over 5 million copies, been translated into 39 languages, and made into a film. She grew up in Washington DC and in 1984 moved to London, where she lives with her husband and son. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Trustee of the British Library, and President of the Royal Literary Fund.

Jeanette Winterson OBE

Shakespeare Author of the Day, Wednesday 13

Jeanette has written 10 novels, children’s books, non-fiction and screenplays, and writes regularly for the Guardian. She was adopted by Pentecostal parents and raised in Manchester to be a missionary, which she wrote about in her first novel, Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit and twenty-seven years later in her bestselling memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
 

Judith Kerr OBE

Children's Author of the Day, Thursday 14 April

Judith was born in Berlin, but came to England with her family after escaping the Nazis, which she wrote about in Out of the Hitler Time. After a period at the BBC, she left to look after her and her husbands two children, who inspired her first picture book, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, published in 1968. The family cat Mog, inspired a series of picture books about the eponymous feline and the Thomas family.

2015 Authors of the Day

David Nicholls

We were delighted to welcome David Nicholls as Author of the Day on Monday 13th April 2015. David, one of Britain's most talented, versatile and bestselling writers, delivered the Author Keynote at our Publishing for Digital Minds Conference. His latest novel Us, went straight to Number One when it was published in the UK last September and was longlisted for the Booker Prize.

Deborah Moggach

Deborah Moggach's work has been translated in 25 languages across 26 territories, with worldwide sales of over half a million copies. She has written 17 novels and two books of short stories and has adapted several of these novels for TV – Close Relations, Final Demand, Seesaw, Stolen, To Have and To Hold – whilst also adapting other books for the screen. 

Valeria Luiselli

On the Wednesday, LBF welcomed Valeria Luiselli who was born in Mexico and lives in New York. She is the author of the internationally acclaimed novel Faces in the Crowd (2012) and the book of essays Sidewalks (2013), both translated to multiple languages and published by Granta in the UK. Her most recent novel is The Story of My Teeth (Granta 2015).

Anthony Browne

Anthony is one of the most celebrated author-illustrators today. He was Children’s Laureate from 2009 to 2011 and has won multiple awards, including the Kate Greenaway Medal twice, the Kurt Maschler Award three times and the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Walker Books UK published an anniversary edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, illustrated by Anthony.

2014 Authors of the Day

Sir Terry Pratchett

We were delighted to welcome Sir Terry Pratchett as Author of the Day on Tuesday 8th April. Adored by millions of readers worldwide for his genre-defying blend of comedy, fantasy and science fiction, we dedicated the first day of the show to International Sir Terry Pratchett Day.

Malorie Blackman

On the last day of the fair, we welcomed Waterstones Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman as Children's Author of the Day. Malorie’s attendance at the 2014 fair was particularly special as it was the first time a Children’s Laureate has taken part in the Author of the Day programme.

Sun-Mi Hwang

We welcomed international bestselling and award-winning author Sun-Mi Hwang as Market Focus Author of the Day in honour of Korea Market Focus 2014. Sun-Mi attended the fair on the same day as HRH Duchess of Cornwall and was introduced to our royal guest on the Korea pavilion stand.

Visit

If you are involved with the creation, distribution, sale or treatment of content, we want you to walk our floors and meet, talk, observe and discover. 

Exhibit

By becoming a part of LBF 2021, a key touchpoint in our industry’s calendar, you have the chance to set the tone for the publishing year ahead.