SAIL Fest returns for a second year in collaboration with Tate Publishing
SAIL Fest, the South Asian Illustration and Literature festival will return for a second year on Saturday 27 September.
The 2025 festival has partnered with Tate Publishing and the festival will take place at Tate Britain with a theme of barriers and possibilities across South Asian children’s literature.
Its organisers say that SAIL FEST is the first of its kind in the UK, and is dedicated to celebrating, connecting and empowering South Asian children’s authors, poets and illustrators creating books for younger readers between the ages of 0-17. The festival aims to bring together the South Asian children’s book community from across the country; from publishers and booksellers to aspiring creatives, teachers and librarians.
Sessions on the day will focus on the barriers and possibilities of:
- Being a debut author
- Sustaining a career in publishing
- Publicising your book/brand
There will also be fun creativity tasks, an interactive draw along session, a book launch for new and established authors, including Jasbinder Bilan and Rashmi Sirdeshpande, and a networking event that’s open to all.
Co-founder Sinead Gosai said, ‘After the phenomenal success of our first year, we’re back with an even bigger line up of events. SAIL is committed to celebrating South Asian voices working across children’s books and collaborating with a publisher like Tate signifies their enthusiasm to help change the narrative and prevent South Asian stories being sidelined. Together, we’re reclaiming space, challenging the gatekeepers and building a future where our voices are not just heard, but celebrated. We’re keen to work alongside more publishers to continue to secure the future of SAIL Fest and every contribution, no matter the size, helps sustain our platform where bold ideas thrive and our voices are amplified with the depth and dignity they deserve, so please do help us in championing the future of South Asian storytelling.’
Cherise Lopes-Baker, Executive Commissioning Editor at Tate Publishing said, ‘Working with SAIL festival is a commitment to community, creativity and the voices that shape our cultural landscape. At Tate Publishing, we firmly believe in the power of storytelling to connect, inspire and transform and SAIL festival is a living testament to that belief.’
Find out more including details on how to register.
SAIL festival was created by a collective of South Asian women working in children’s books in the UK – Children’s bookseller SanchitaBasu De Sarkar (winner of the Children’s Bookseller of the Year and Best Book Retailer of the Year at the 2024 British Book Awards) award-winning author and creator Chitra Soundar and publicity director Sinéad Gosai.
