A Week (& a Bit) to Go!
Dear Festival Friends
With just over a week to go before our first 2023 Stroud Book Festival event (the now sold out Stroud Short Stories on Sunday 5th November), it’s time to buy your tickets if you haven’t done so already.
Several more of our events are close to selling out, so please do book now to avoid disappointment.
Having trouble deciding what to come along to? May we suggest:
DESERT ISLAND BOOKS with Mary Portas
Saturday 11th November, 4.00–5.00pm at Sub Rooms, £10
Throughout her life and multi-faceted career to date, books have always provided Mary Portas (pictured above) with consolation, stimulation and inspiration.
When a guest on BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs” in 2010, Mary chose the Collected Poems of Persian poet and philosopher, Rumi for her Desert Island book. More recently on the Women’s Prize for Fiction podcast, novel “Angel” by Elizabeth Taylor and “Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver” were among her eclectic choices as she commented “I always have a really good novel on the go, or a biography or autobiography. I love that mix. And then I have poetry and some spiritual books, or books by great mentors and thinkers. I’m a bit peripatetic in the way my mind works.”
So which five books will Mary choose for Stroud Book Festival goers? Join us to find out, and perhaps even contribute a suggestion of your own.
FOR FAMILIES
HORRIBLE HISTORIES 30th ANNIVERSARY with Martin Brown
Saturday 11th November, 11.30am–12.30pm at Sub Rooms, £8
Are you a Terrible Tudor or a Gorgeous Georgian? A Vile Victorian or a Groovy Greek? We’re thrilled that Horrible Histories’ illustrator, the one and only Martin Brown, is coming to Smashing Stroud to celebrate 30 horrid years of not only the world’s bestselling history series but almost certainly the least boring!
In an event which promises fun for all the family, Martin will provide some wicked drawing tips alongside savage stories and foul facts as he revisits the best worst bits of history from “Horrible Histories: The Worst in the World”. For tickets, click here. And children of all ages can join in a free Horrible Histories trail at the Stroud Museum in the Park on 7–12 November and see how many characters they can spot hiding round the Museum!
You can buy your Stroud Book Festival tickets online from thesubrooms.co.uk. You can also book by calling 01453 796880, or in-person at the box office at the Sub Rooms (Tuesday-Saturday, 9-4pm).
Please follow us on social media for all the latest Festival updates.
Twitter: @bookstroud
Facebook: facebook.com/stroudbookfestival
Instagram: instagram.com/stroudbookfestival
See you soon!
With love from
The Stroud Book Festival team x