Dear Festival Friends

With just under five weeks to go until Stroud Book Festival 2025 begins, we’re busy finalising arrangements for our guest authors and chairs. We are so looking forward to welcoming them all to this year’s Festival.

If you haven’t yet picked up your free printed Stroud Book Festival brochure there are still plenty of copies at Stroud Bookshop, Stroud Sub Rooms, Stroud Library, and other venues around the Stroud valleys.

And tickets are still available for the majority of our events. You can browse the full programme in our brochure, or at stroudbookfestival.org.uk where you can click through to buy your tickets online. Or go direct to thesubrooms.co.uk. Tickets can also be purchased by calling 01453 796880, or in-person at the Sub Rooms box office (Tuesday-Saturday, 9-4pm).

This week, may we suggest:

FOR ADULTS:

PRINTMAKING THROUGH THE SEASONS with ANGELA HARDING

Saturday 8 November, 2-3pm, Stroud Sub Rooms

Printmaker Angela Harding is a favourite artist for so many of us, who love her glorious creations inspired by the natural history and landscapes of the British Isles.

She is also now an established author of beautiful illustrated books, the latest of which is her seasonal quartet – Spring Unfurled, Summer’s Hum, Falling Into Autumn, and Winter’s Song. So we’re delighted to welcome her to Stroud Book Festival to talk about printmaking through the seasons, and the landscapes and animals which inspire her.

To whet your appetite for this special event you can listen to Angela on Desert Island Discs this coming Sunday 5^th October on BBC Radio 4 at 10.00am  and thereafter on BBC Sounds. You can also read Programme Director Caroline Sanderson’s interview with her here.

FOR CHILDREN:

ASTROSAURS: Mission to Infinity

Sunday 9 November, 1.45-2.45pm, Lansdown Hall

We love a graphic novel here at Stroud Book Festival and we also love dinosaurs (who doesn’t?). So we’re thrilled to be joined this year by mega (stega?) bestselling children’s author Steve Cole, who will be presenting “Astrosaurs: Mission to Infinity”, his brilliant new, dino-packed graphic novel space adventure.

In an event for ages 6+, there will be music and all kinds of space mayhem, and Steve will also share lots of writing tips.

See you soon!

With love from

The Stroud Book Festival team x