Founded in 2016 by author Jamila Gavin, Stroud Book Festival has grown from a small local event to a full, five-day Festival, which now welcomes more than 4,000 people to more than 35 events.

Staged annually each November by a team of local authors and experienced publishing and cultural professionals, the Festival aims to present a creative programme of high-quality, entertaining and thought-provoking events to engage audiences in our vibrant local community and beyond. 

The Festival has played host to many famous names – Lemn Sissay, Julia Donaldson, Bernardine Evaristo, Ian McEwan, Mary Portas, Kamal Ahmed, Rachel Joyce, Cath Kidston, Kate Mosse Joanna Trollope and Prue Leith to name but a few. Stroud Book Festival also supports and promotes writers, poets, illustrators, publishers and booksellers local to Stroud and the surrounding areas. We are always keen to work hand in hand with the wider creative community and make the Festival accessible to as broad an audience as possible.

Stroud Book Festival is committed to inspiring children and young people to tell their stories and become lifelong readers. We work with local primary and secondary schools, along with other community organisations including Stroud Library, to create fun and creative ways to inspire our youngest Festival goers. In 2022, more than 700 children joined us at the Stroud Subscription Rooms for two days of events for local primary schools, with visiting authors including John Agard, Emma Carroll, Jasbinder Bilan, Matt Goodfellow and Lydia Monks.

Stroud Book Festival strives as far as possible to present an annual programme that is inclusive and representative; whether that be of age, ethnic origin, those with additional needs, religious and political belief, sexual orientation and gender identity.