Hosted by Jessica Creighton, join legendary goal scorer and respected football pundit, Ian Wright, to celebrate the publication of Striking Out with his writing partner, poet, journalist and musician, Musa Okwonga.

The ‘stream and book’ package includes a unique ticket for the stream, and a copy of Striking Out worth £12.99, deliverable to any UK or international address. The first 200 copies will be SIGNED.

The event will initially be broadcast on 20 September at 6.30pm UK time. It will be available to view up to a week after the event has ended and can be accessed Worldwide. If you live in a time zone that does not suit the initial broadcast time you can watch it at any point after the initial showing for one week.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

Thirteen-year-old Jerome Jackson dreams of becoming a world-class footballer. But with a difficult home life, Jerome can’t see how he’ll ever make this dream come true … until he meets a mentor figure in Ian Wright, who can hopefully put him on the right track. With a big chance to change his life, Jerome has to juggle the growing attention on his games, a new school, jealous classmates and the worsening situation at home. Can Ian help Jerome navigate the most exciting, and the most frightening time of his life?

A powerful book for all children based on Ian’s life, this is a story that reminds kids to never give up and demonstrates the importance of role models in a young person’s life. Crediting his own schoolteacher Sydney Pigden as one of the first positive role models in his life, Wright aims to shine a light on the importance of mentorship through his semi-autobiographical story.

In conversation for this virtual event, Wright & Okwonga will discuss how it really is as a kid in the world and how fast you have to grow up, why the world is getting faster, more competitive and more expensive, plus how footballers can be a source of so much inspiration to children. They will also explore themes of the book, including the importance of friendship, community and being a good human being.

Don’t miss this celebration of family, food, music, and - of course – football.

‘An inspiring story that encourages you to dream big and overcome life’s challenges.’ Trent Alexander-Arnold