Samira Ahmed, Sam Leith & Margaret Busby | Writers on Reading
Sat 25 Apr 2026 | 12:00pm - 1:00pm
To celebrate the National Year of Reading, join a stellar line-up of professional readers – a broadcaster, publisher, writer and critic – to discuss the important role that reading for pleasure has in improving life chances, building confidence and fuelling creativity – and how we can encourage readers new and old to embrace reading again.
Chaired by broadcaster Alex Clark.
Venue: Old Divinity School
Duration: 1 hour
Proudly supporting the National Year of Reading
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Author Biographies
Samira Ahmed is a journalist, writer, and BBC broadcaster. She presents Front Row on BBC Radio 4, Newswatch on BBC One, and has made acclaimed documentaries including Art of Persia (BBC Four), Disgusted, Mary Whitehouse, and I Dressed Ziggy Stardust (BBC Radio 4). In 2020, she was named Audio Presenter of the Year by the Broadcasting Press Guild. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Observer, and New Humanist, where she also writes a regular column. She is President of the Twentieth Century Society, which campaigns to preserve modern architecture and design. A Hard Day’s Night is her first book.
Margaret Busby CBE, Hon. FRSL (Nana Akua Ackon) is a major cultural figure around the world. Her career has spanned work as a publisher, editor, interviewer, reviewer, scriptwriter, lyricist, radio and TV presenter, activist and mentor. She has judged prestigious literary prizes, including the Booker, and served on the boards of such organisations as the Royal Literary Fund, Wasafiri magazine, Tomorrow’s Warriors, and the Africa Centre in London. She has been a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. In 2023 she was appointed President of English PEN.
Sam Leith is Literary Editor of the Spectator. He has also written extensively for the Guardian, TLS, Financial Times, Telegraph and Daily Mail, and was a judge for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. His previous books include You Talkin’ To Me?: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Trump and Beyond, and Write To The Point: How to be Clear, Correct, and Persuasive on the Page.
Chair Biography
Alex Clark is a broadcaster and journalist, who writes for many publications including the Guardian, the Observer, and the Times Literary Supplement. She is a co-host on the Graham Norton Book Club for Audible and hosts the TLS podcast. She is a professional chairperson and appears all over the UK at Cheltenham, Hay and the Southbank Centre. Alex is a festival Honorary Patron.
