Today we’re thrilled to launch our official illustration for Stroud Book Festival 2023, specially commissioned from local artist and illustrator, Hannah Dyson.

The launch of our original Festival design each year is always a hugely exciting moment for us. Committed as we are to supporting creators here in the Five Valleys, each year we commission a local illustrator to provide a signature ‘look’ for each Festival. In past years we’ve been proud and delighted to showcase the work of Dennis Gould, Tom Percival, Clay Sinclair, Ery Burns, Lucia Leyfield and Mark Levy in this way.

This year it’s the turn of…..(drumroll)….Hannah Dyson! Her beautiful design for our 2023 Festival – now only five months away – features a child, intently reading outdoors in a distinctly Five Valleys landscape.

Trained at Brighton University and the Royal College of Art, Hannah’s work has a strong graphic element, with drawing at the heart of everything she does. Currently artist-in-residence at Prema Arts Centre in Uley, she works on a wide variety of projects ranging from landscapes and illustrations to portraits and design.

“As a lifelong reader I was very chuffed to be commissioned to create the illustration for this year’s Stroud Book Festival,” Hannah tells us. “After all, writing and illustration have been entwined forever!”

You can see view more of Hannah’s work here: hannahdyson.co.uk, or find her on Instagram @hannahjdyson

We’ll be announcing some of Stroud Book Festival 2023’s headline events next month, so as always, please do keep an eye on our Stroud Book Festival website for the latest news at stroudbookfestival.org.uk. And a reminder that if you are on social media, you can follow us for updates.

With love from

The Stroud Book Festival team x