Happy Christmas to All Our Readers
Dear Festival Friends,
As 2025 draws to a close, we have two special Christmas announcements.
Firstly, we’re delighted to say that as a festive treat, you can now watch a video of our sell-out 2025 event with Stroud Book Festival patron, Ian McEwan, talking about his acclaimed latest novel, “What We Can Know”. Simply go to our website, and click on the Watch Previous Events button at the top of the home page.
There you’ll find an array of our past events to enjoy. Unlimited access until the end of October 2026 costs £10 – all proceeds go towards future festivals.
Secondly, we have an exciting date for your new diaries! We’re thrilled to announce a special Stroud Book Festival event in generous collaboration with Stroud Arts Festival, which celebrates its 80th birthday next year.
On the evening of Saturday 21st March 2026, we’ll be welcoming Professor Daisy Fancourt to Stroud, to talk about her book, “Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health” at Lansdown Hall.
Daisy is professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at UCL, where she and her team investigate the science of how the arts impact our health and wellbeing. Rated as one of the most cited scientists in the world, she also now leads the World Health Organization’s (WHO) agenda on Arts and Health. We can’t think of a more appropriate book event with which to launch Stroud Arts Festival’s anniversary year.
Tickets will be released in the New Year and we’ll be in touch with further details in early January.
In the meantime, we’d like to wish a very Happy Christmas to all our readers, and to everyone who helped make Stroud Book Festival 2025 happen. May your stockings always contain books!
With love from
The Stroud Book Festival team x