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Penguin Random House UK Children’s has announced a new YA festival in partnership with Waterstones, House of YA x Waterstones BookFest.
Taking place from 15th to 18th August and featuring authors including Karen M McManus, Marie Lu, Bea Fitzgerald, Joelle Wellington and more, the festival is described as “an expansion of the book festival Waterstones hosted in 2022” and an “industry-first collaboration [taking] the form of a Penguin exclusive day focused on celebrating young adult publishing of all genres".
A TikTok account is also being launched, @houseofya, which the publisher says “aims to bring creative and entertaining content to the #BookTok community to further their passion and love for YA books".
The House of YA x Waterstones BookFest flagship event will be hosted by Waterstones Piccadilly in London on Thursday 17th August. The day will include author panels, signings, workshops, games and other activities – as well as giveaways and prizes – followed that evening by an industry-focused “housewarming” party to celebrate the launch of the @houseofya TikTok channel and festival.
The festival will be going on tour, with additional programming and author appearances at Waterstones stores in Newcastle, Manchester and Norwich throughout the week from 15th to 18th August.
Also in attendance will be Kika Hatzopoulou, H F Askwith, Jenny Ireland, Beth Reekles and Natasha Bowen.
Alice Broderick, brand director, Penguin Random House Children’s, said: “The monumental rise of #BookTok is evidence that readers are eager to connect with each other, share their experiences and discover new authors and stories. We are delighted to partner with Waterstones for this festival, and to launch the House of YA TikTok channel. We are excited to join the conversation as @houseofya and to connect audiences with our rich and diverse YA publishing and authors, both on and offline.”
Francesca Dow, managing director of Penguin Random House Children’s, commented: “Word of mouth recommendation remains a powerful force within our industry and the #BookTok community has been imaginative in sharing its passion for books and helping to reshape the publishing landscape in doing so.
"We’re excited to therefore launch this industry-first collaboration, the House of YA x Waterstones BookFest, to give so many book lovers an opportunity to connect with some of our wonderful YA authors off-screen and in real life.”