UPCOMING EVENTS
2026
FOR PAPERBACK PUBLICATION OF STEALING DAD
Hexham Literary Festival
Wednesday 29 April 2026 at 6.15pm.
Theatre, Queen’s Hall, Hexham
https://www.hexhambookfestival.co.uk/event/sofka-zinovieff
The Big Book Group Event: Stealing Dad by Sofka Zinovieff
Join Hexham Book Festival for our popular Big Book Group Event, perfect for avid readers.
Chaired by Liv Chapman
What do you do when you’re not allowed to attend your father’s funeral?
This is the question facing Alekos’s far-flung children from many marriages when the successful, if controversial, Greek sculptor dies in London. His last wife and now widow is determined that they stay away, but for the first time, all the sisters and brothers meet up and plan to take matters into their own hands, with surprising and hilarious consequences.
All attendees can order specially priced hardbacks to read ahead of the event.
Hardback books (RRP £20) available for:
- £12.50 book only (collect from the Queen’s Hall, Hexham)
- £16.50 posted to an address of your choice
Email us to order: info@hexhambookfestival.co.uk.
Cheltenham Science Festival
Sunday 7 June 2026 at 11.30 am. In discussion about dying and rituals with Dr Matt Morgan, an expert on end of life care
https://www.cheltenhamfestivals.org/our-festivals/booking-information
Dr Johnson’s House, London
Wednesday 10 June 6.30pm – 8pm (Doors open 6pm)
In discussion with Julia Samuel on Death Rituals & Grief
Ticket includes a welcome drink, book signing and a chance to view Dr Johnson’s House. £27.50
Doors open & welcome drink: 6pm
Join acclaimed author Sofka Zinovieff and leading psychotherapist Julia Samuel for a fascinating exploration of death rituals and grief.
Sofka’s latest novel, Stealing Dad, was inspired by the extraordinary circumstances surrounding her father’s death, including being barred, along with her siblings, from attending his funeral. This rupture, a total absence of ritual at the moment when it was most needed, as well as her background as a social anthropologist, prompted her to investigate what funerals actually do, and why, across every culture and every historical period, humans instinctively create ceremonies around death.
In Every Family Has a Story, her bestselling follow-up to Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass, much-loved psychotherapist Julia Samuel invites us into her sessions as she explores the relationships that have the power to touch us and hurt us most: those with our family. Through eight beautifully told case studies, covering a variety of families across multiple generations, she analyses common issues from losing a parent to children leaving home, and from separation to step-relationships.