London Book Fair will host The Bookseller’s FutureBook conference in 2027, with the conference taking place at Excel London on Monday 15th March 2027, the day before LBF (16th to 18th March).
The one-day conference and awards for global publishing will have their first international incarnation at LBF and will feature thinkers and executives from across the international book, creative, media and commercial industries.
The conference will examine major shifts from AI to DEI, censorship to fandom, as well as asking what these disruptions actually mean for businesses and professionals within the industry.
Philip Jones, editor at The Bookseller, said: “With the future of the book once more under serious scrutiny, bringing together two of the biggest brands in the book trade and combining the conference know-how of The Bookseller with the international reach of the London Book Fair felt like a no-brainer. We are also delighted to be supporting LBF in its mould-breaking move to Excel, and look forward to helping kick off the week with a day of insight and challenge.”
Molly Flatt, co-Programmer of FutureBook, said: “Founded in 2010, this high-energy, big-picture conference brings together publishing leaders and aspiring leaders to explore the future of the trade – so it makes a lot of sense to bring the action to where those people already are. It also opens up a fantastic opportunity to broaden FutureBook’s international scope, tapping into some of the most exciting publishers, agents, authors, booksellers and entrepreneurs already visiting the UK from across the world. With this in mind, for 2027 we’re pulling together an ambitious line-up full of urgent questions and big ideas, and taking the opportunity to add a global slant to our awards too. This really will be the perfect way for publishing people to kick off their LBF, and should help frame their conversations and sharpen their priorities for the whole week.”
Emma Lowe, director of the London Book Fair, said: “Bringing FutureBook and the London Book Fair together feels like a full circle moment for me. LBF is all about having insightful conversations in an environment which exists to help us find new stories and also continue some of our old ones. FutureBook has long been a harbour for these interactions, too, so it feels like a natural home for it. I’m excited about what might happen when we add the international element of the fair to our programming as well as joining the buzz of both events.”
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