O'Farrell announced as LBF Author of the Day as 95% of exhibition space sells out

Maggie O’Farrell has been announced as adult Author of the Day at this year’s London Book Fair (LBF), as organisers said 95% of exhibition space has sold out.

O’Farrell will attend the fair on 5th April and take part in an event at the English PEN Salon. The news follows hot on the heels of the announcement of her forthcoming book The Marriage Portrait, set to be published by Tinder Press in the UK on 1st September and Alfred A Knopf in the US and Canada on 6th September. It has been hailed as “the most eagerly anticipated novel of the year” by Waterstones head of fiction Bea Carvalho.  

LBF organisers said: “With a children’s novel also planned for October, Maggie’s stint as Author of the Day at LBF looks set to be the inaugural event for an epic year for the writer.” 

This year’s fair, the first in person for two years, currently has 750 exhibitors from 56 countries confirmed to attend. The International Rights Centre is also fully booked with a waiting list, which the LBF said was “a sign that the industry is eager to meet up again in person to do business, network and share knowledge". 

Andy Ventris, director of the London Book Fair, said: “We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Maggie O’Farrell to LBF 2022 as our adult Author of the Day on Tuesday 5th April. Maggie’s profile has been catapulted over the past couple of years, with the game-changing publication of Hamnet rocketing her remarkable career to new heights.  

“We are absolutely delighted to be the first in-person event that Maggie will be taking part in since the announcement of her upcoming novel The Marriage Portrait. I hope this will be a wonderful opportunity for the global publishing community to discover more about Maggie, her incredible backlist, and the books coming from her later this year.” 

The Market Focus and Children’s Authors of the Day will be announced shortly.