Saturday Salon
The Stroud Book Festival Saturday Salon returns! Back for its third year, this relaxed gathering is staged to celebrate and support up-and-coming local writing talent. Join us at The Stroud Hotel for an afternoon of readings, talks and conversations from an eclectic selection of emerging Gloucestershire writers, who have been invited to share extracts from…
Read MoreThe Laurie Lee Prize for Writing 2026
Join us as we announce and celebrate the winners of the Laurie Lee Prize for Writing 2026. Alongside the announcement of the winners in the two categories (over 21 years and 16-20 years), you’ll have the opportunity to hear the first public readings from the successful works. The Laurie Lee Prize, now in its fifth…
Read MoreStroud Short Stories
The award-winning Stroud Short Stories returns to Stroud Book Festival, and this time the theme is Hot/Heat. As always, SSS will bring you extraordinary stories, written and performed by Gloucestershire authors. Now in its 15th year, SSS’s considerable reputation is based on the unfailingly high quality of the stories read at its events, which are…
Read MoreJane Austen’s Piano
For our Stroud Book Festival 2026 finale, we are thrilled to welcome author and activist, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason and her pianist daughter, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason for a marvellous celebration in words and music of the life and writing of Jane Austen, 251 years on from her birth in December 1775. Kadiatu will explore Austen’s musical world, reflecting…
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