Events

November 18th: No Straight Road Takes You There by Rebecca Solnit

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On Wednesday 18th November 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of the Rebecca Solnit’s collection of essays, “No Straight Road Takes You There” . We will meet at Borderless Books, 4 London Road, Stroud, GL5 2AG. Entry is free but please bring some cash if you can afford to donate to cover venue costs.

“In her latest essay collection, the award-winning author explores climate change, feminism, democracy, hope, and power and its abuse. Throughout she asks us to heed the stories we tell or have been told, and the ways those stories can be, or should be changed. Solnit offers a reappraisal of the value of indirect consequences, an embrace of unpredictability, slowness, and imperfection in the politics of how to change the world.” (from Storygraph)

The book is available from Borderless Books for £15.29 (a 10% discount on the RRP). Below in our resources section you can find links to free text, audio and video resources – including 10 of the 21 essays in the collection. There is also more information about the book (including content warnings), author, and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

Anyone interested in the book can join us. We do our best to make the sessions welcoming to people who have not been to reading groups or similar settings like university seminars before. We recommend reading the book but you don’t need to in order to come along and listen or ask questions. You also do not need to have attended any of our previous sessions.

Content warnings (submitted by Storygraph users):

  • Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
  • Moderate: Abortion, Classism, Deportation
  • Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Police brutality
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders

More information about the book (taken from Storygraph):

In the spirit of her bestselling book, Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit explores how our actions can shape the future and the liberatory possibilities of embracing uncertainty.

“I’ve tried to find other ways of seeing and to prize the migratory routes ideas take,” Solnit writes in the introduction, “the way that hope is most often grounded in memory, because you can’t see the future but you can understand the patterns and possibilities if you know the past.”

Beginning with an essay about a three-hundred-year-old violin and what it can tell us about forests, abundance, and climate, and ending with an essay about ice in seven long sentences, No Straight Road Takes You There deftly bridges the political and the literary, offering unique insights, nuanced understanding, and inspiration for the challenging work ahead.

About the author (from Wikipedia):

Rebecca Solnit (born 1961) is an American writer and activist. She has written on a variety of subjects, including feminism, the environment, politics, place, and art.

Rebecca Solnit is the author of more than 25 books, including Orwell’s Roses, Hope in the Dark (published in 2004 and the focus for an SRRG discussion in 2017), Men Explain Things to Me, A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster, and A Field Guide to Getting Lost. A longtime climate and human rights activist, she serves on the boards of Oil Change International and Third Act.

“This is a book of fierce and poetic thinking—and a guide for navigating a rapidly changing, non-linear, living world.”
—Merlin Sheldrake, author of Entangled Life

“With her deep sense of the movement of history, her agile intellect, hope in the possibilities of action and nimble prose, Solnit continues to surprise and delight. This new collection of essays is a tonic in dark times.”
—Lisa Appignanesi, author of Everyday Madness

Resources

About our events

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash if you can afford it (a few pounds would be great).

We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. We do not want the sessions to feel like school – the idea is that everyone has something to contribute, even if primarily through finding the discussion texts difficult and having questions with other attendees can attempt to answer.

To ensure marginalised people feel welcome, we encourage care and thoughtful contributions that respect people’s identities and lives. We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive and anti-racist space.

Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

Get in touch
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

About the venue

The venue for this session is Borderless Books – an independent bookshop established in February 2026. The shop is “particularly passionate about international literature, including fiction in translation, memoir, and travel writing.” It is based in central Stroud, close to the train station and bus station, with nearby stands to lock bikes (Sub Rooms), and parking for cars nearby at Brunel Mall multistorey or the Parliament St car park. There is step-free access to the ground floor where we will meet. There is a toilet, air conditioning, and basic folding chairs. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub (around the corner) for anyone who wants to continue chatting after 9.30pm.

Events

Wednesday 21st October – How Long ‘Til Black Future Month (by N.K. Jemisin)

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On Wednesday 21st October 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of the N.K. Jemisin’s book “How Long ‘Til Black Future Month”. We will meet at Borderless Books, 4 London Road, Stroud, GL5 2AG. Entry is free but please bring some cash if you can afford to donate to cover venue costs.

N. K. Jemisin is a three-time Hugo Award winner and bestselling author. In her first short-story collection, she “challenges and delights readers with thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption that sharply examine modern society” (Storygraph).

The collection follows an essay of the same name written by Jemisin in 2013 (available for free on her website), “a shameless paean to an Afrofuturist icon, the artist Janelle Monae, [and] also a meditation on how hard it’s been for [Jemisin] to love science fiction and fantasy as a black woman… How terrifying it’s been to realise no one thinks my people have a future. And how gratifying to finally accept myself and begin spinning the futures I want to see” (taken from the introduction to the short story collection).

The book is available from Borderless Books with a 10% discount. Below in our resources section you can find free audio and video resources – including 16 of the 22 stories in the collection. There is also more information about the book (including content warnings), author, and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

Anyone interested in the book can join us. We do our best to make the sessions welcoming to people who have not been to reading groups or similar settings like university seminars before. We recommend reading the book but you don’t need to in order to come along and listen or ask questions. You also do not need to have attended any of our previous sessions.

Content warnings (submitted by Storygraph users):

  • Graphic: Racism, Death, Violence
  • Moderate: Rape, Animal death, Sexual content
  • Minor: Racial slurs, Slavery, Police brutality
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders

More information about the book (taken from Storygraph):

A collection of thought-provoking narratives of destruction, rebirth, and redemption that sharply examine modern society.

Spirits haunt the flooded streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In a parallel universe, a utopian society watches our world, trying to learn from our mistakes. A black mother in the Jim Crow South must save her daughter from a fey offering impossible promises. And in the Hugo award-nominated short story “The City Born Great,” a young street kid fights to give birth to an old metropolis’s soul.

  • “Marvelous and wide-ranging.” — Los Angeles Times
  • “Gorgeous” — NPR Books
  • “Breathtakingly imaginative and narratively bold.” — Entertainment Weekly

About the author (from Wikipedia):

Nora Keita Jemisin (born September 19, 1972) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her fiction includes a wide range of themes, notably cultural conflict and oppression.

Jemisin has won several awards for her work, including multiple Locus Awards, starting with her first novel. Her Broken Earth series made her the first African-American author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel, as well as the first author to win in three consecutive years, and the first to win for all three novels in a trilogy. She won a fourth Hugo in 2020 for the novelette Emergency Skin and a fifth in 2022 for the comic book series Far Sector. In 2025, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association named Jemisin the 42nd Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master in recognition of her significant contributions to the literature of science fiction and fantasy.

Resources

About our events

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash if you can afford it (a few pounds would be great).

We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. We do not want the sessions to feel like school – the idea is that everyone has something to contribute, even if primarily through finding the discussion texts difficult and having questions with other attendees can attempt to answer.

To ensure marginalised people feel welcome, we encourage care and thoughtful contributions that respect people’s identities and lives. We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive and anti-racist space.

Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

Get in touch
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

About the venue

The venue for this session is Borderless Books – an independent bookshop established in February 2026. The shop is “particularly passionate about international literature, including fiction in translation, memoir, and travel writing.” It is based in central Stroud, close to the train station and bus station, with nearby stands to lock bikes (Sub Romms), and parking for cars nearby at Brunel Mall multistorey or the Parliament St car park. There is step-free access to the ground floor where we will meet. There is a toilet, air conditioning, and basic folding chairs. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub (around the corner) for anyone who wants to continue chatting after 9.30pm.

Events

Wednesday 30th September – Discussing Woman Life Freedom in Iran

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On Wednesday 30th September 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of the Woman Life Freedom movement in Iran, through referencing two books (see below). We will meet at Borderless Books, 4 London Road, Stroud, GL5 2AG. Entry is free but please bring some cash if you can afford to donate to cover venue costs.

Marjane Satrapi, best known for her graphic novel series and film Persepolis, died aged 56 in June this year. This year has also been a year of internet blackouts and state repression in Iran – involving the deaths of thousands of residents. And, of course, it’s also a year in which the US and Israel – with support from the UK government including planes flying from nearby Fairford air base – have been bombing Iran, killing more people, making the situation for Iranians worse, and impacting us all globally.

To learn more, and to honour Satrapi, we will discuss her collection. This is a collaboration of activists, artists, journalists, and academics working together to depict the historic “Women Life Freedom” uprising — with comics that show what would be censored in photos and film in Iran — in solidarity with the Iranian people, in defence of feminism.

As the Satrapi book is expensive (£30 RRP in paperback), we will also discuss Malu Halasa’s collection (£15 RRP) – which people can read as an alternative. This also extols the power of art, writing and body politics – a rallying call and a celebration of the women the regime has tried and failed to silence. To be clear, we are not expecting people to read both books – please pick one, or come along either after engaging with the free resources below, or just to listen in!

The books are available from Borderless Books with a 10% discount. Below in our resources section you can find free audio and video resources. There is also more information about the books and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

Anyone interested in the book can join us. We do our best to make the sessions welcoming to people who have not been to reading groups or similar settings like university seminars before. We recommend reading the book but you don’t need to in order to come along and listen or ask questions. You also do not need to have attended any of our previous sessions.

Content warnings (submitted by Storygraph users):

Marjane Satrapi’s book:

  • Graphic: Police brutality, Murder, Violence
  • Moderate: Torture, War, Death
  • Minor: Alcohol, Rape, Suicide

Malu Halasa’s book:

  • Graphic: Sexism
  • Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders

More information about the books:

“On September 13th 2022, a young Iranian student, Mahsa Amini, was arrested by the morality police in Tehran. Her only crime was that she wasn’t properly wearing the headscarf required for women by the Islamic Republic. At the police station, she was beaten so badly she had to be taken to the hospital, where she fell into a deep coma. She died three days later.

A wave of protests soon spread through the whole country, and crowds adopted the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom”—words that have been chanted around the world during solidarity rallies.

Marjane Satrapi, author of Persepolis, returns to graphic art with this collaboration of over 20 activists, artists, journalists, and academics working together to depict the historic uprising, in solidarity with the Iranian people and in defense of feminism.

In order to tell the story of this major revolution happening in her homeland, Marjane Satrapi has gathered together an array of journalists, activists, academics, artists, and writers from around the world to create this powerful collection of full-color, graphic-novel-style essays and perspectives that bear witness:

  • 3 expert perspectives on Iran: long-time journalist for Libération and political scientist Jean-Pierre Perrin; researcher and Iran specialist Farid Vahid; and UC Berkeley historian Abbas Milani, Director of the Iranian Studies program at Stanford University.

Woman, Life, Freedom demonstrates that this is not an unexpected movement, but a major uprising in a long history of women who have wanted to affirm their rights. It will continue.” (Storygraph)

Malu Halasa’s book is “An invaluable and deeply moving testimony to resistance The first book on the protests that have shaken the Iran regime to its core Published to coincide with the 1-year anniversary of the murder of Mahsa Amini A unique anthology, the first to showcase Iranian art and writing since the protests” (Storygraph)

About the authors:

Marjane Satrapi (22 November 1969 – 4 June 2026) was a writer and artist. She was born in Rasht, Iran. She lived in Paris, France. Satrapi wrote and drew comics about her life, notably the autobiographical comic Persepolis. Satrapi’s most famous book is called Persepolis, after the old Persian capital. The comic book is about Satrapi’s childhood in Iran during the war. This time was when country wanted to end the Shah’s cruel rule. It was later turned into an animated film. She has written three comic books relating to her life. The first and second are about her childhood. The third is about her study in different countries. She was planning to write a fourth book about her return to Iran.

Malu Halasa (Syria Speaks, Saqi Books) is a renowned authority on the art and culture of the Middle East She has produced seven acclaimed volumes on the subject Essential for anyone interested in women’s rights movements, Iran and the Middle East

Resources

About our events

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash if you can afford it (a few pounds would be great).

We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. We do not want the sessions to feel like school – the idea is that everyone has something to contribute, even if primarily through finding the discussion texts difficult and having questions with other attendees can attempt to answer.

To ensure marginalised people feel welcome, we encourage care and thoughtful contributions that respect people’s identities and lives. We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive and anti-racist space.

Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

Get in touch
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

About the venue

The venue for this session is Borderless Books – an independent bookshop established in February 2026. The shop is “particularly passionate about international literature, including fiction in translation, memoir, and travel writing.” It is based in central Stroud, close to the train station and bus station, with nearby stands to lock bikes (Sub Romms), and parking for cars nearby at Brunel Mall multistorey or the Parliament St car park. There is step-free access to the ground floor where we will meet. There is a toilet, air conditioning, and basic folding chairs. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub (around the corner) for anyone who wants to continue chatting after 9.30pm.

Events

Wednesday 19th August – Woman on The Edge of Time by Marge Piercy

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On Wednesday 19th August 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of classic feminist science fiction novel “Woman on the Edge of Time” by Marge Piercy. We will meet at Borderless Books, 4 London Road, Stroud, GL5 2AG. Entry is free but please bring some cash if you can afford to donate to cover venue costs.

What would it be like to live in a classless society, oriented around ecological wisdom, community, androgyny, and respect for madness?Marge Piercy explored these ideas and more in Woman on the Edge of Time – first published in 1976. Piercy emphasises the potential future egalitarian society described, Mattapoisett, as the result of collective struggle and dependent on continued collective action. Piercy argued her novel wasn’t utopian “because it’s accessible. There’s almost nothing there […] not accessible now.”

The book is available from Borderless Books with a 10% discount. Below in our resources section you can find free text, audio and video resources. There is also more information about the books and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

Anyone interested in the book can join us. We do our best to make the sessions welcoming to people who have not been to reading groups or similar settings like university seminars before. We recommend reading the book but you don’t need to in order to come along and listen or ask questions. You also do not need to have attended any of our previous sessions.

Content warnings (submitted by Storygraph users):

  • Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Medical trauma
  • Moderate: Domestic abuse, Abortion, Addiction
  • Minor: Suicide, War, Racial slurs
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders

More information about the book:


“Connie Ramos, a woman in her mid-thirties, has been declared insane. But Connie is overwhelmingly sane, merely tuned to the future, and able to communicate with the year 2137. As her doctors persuade her to agree to an operation, Connie struggles to force herself to listen to the future and its lessons for today….” (Storygraph)

About the author:

“Marge Piercy (born March 31, 1936) is an American progressive activist, feminist, and writer. Her work includes Woman on the Edge of Time; He, She and It, which won the 1993 Arthur C. Clarke Award; and Gone to Soldiers, a New York Times Best Seller and a sweeping historical novel set during World War II. Piercy’s work is rooted in her Jewish heritage, Marxist social and political activism, and feminist ideals” (from Wikipedia)

Resources

About our events

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash if you can afford it (a few pounds would be great).

We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. We do not want the sessions to feel like school – the idea is that everyone has something to contribute, even if primarily through finding the discussion texts difficult and having questions with other attendees can attempt to answer.

To ensure marginalised people feel welcome, we encourage care and thoughtful contributions that respect people’s identities and lives. We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive and anti-racist space.

Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

Get in touch
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

About the venue

The venue for this session is Borderless Books – an independent bookshop established in February 2026. The shop is “particularly passionate about international literature, including fiction in translation, memoir, and travel writing.” It is based in central Stroud, close to the train station and bus station, with nearby stands to lock bikes (Sub Romms), and parking for cars nearby at Brunel Mall multistorey or the Parliament St car park. There is step-free access to the ground floor where we will meet. There is a toilet, air conditioning, and basic folding chairs. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub (around the corner) for anyone who wants to continue chatting after 9.30pm.

Events

Wednesday 22nd July – News from Nowhere by William Morris

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On Wednesday 22nd July 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of “News from Nowhere” by William Morris. The book presents a utopian, agrarian, society set in the year 2102, taking Morris’ commitment to the socialist struggle to achieve a perfect society on earth into a work of fiction. We will meet at Redz Youth Hub, 6 Threadneedle St, GL5 1AF. Entry is free but please bring some cash if you can afford to donate to cover venue costs.

Originally serialised in the Commonweal journal of the Socialist League in 1890, Morris depicts a society with no big cities, no private property, no monetary system, no marriage or divorce, no courts, no prisons, no class systems, no formal schooling, and no authority. People finding pleasure in nature, and thus in their work, instead forms the basis of societal functioning – and restoration of nature.

Below in our resources section you can find a link to buy the book at a discount from the Yellow Lighted Bookshop, and free text and audio resources. There is also more information about the books and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

Anyone interested in the book can join us. We do our best to make the sessions welcoming to people who have not been to reading groups or similar settings like university seminars before. We recommend reading the book but you don’t need to in order to come along and listen or ask questions. You also do not need to have attended any of our previous sessions.

Content warnings (submitted by Storygraph users):

  • Moderate: Misogyny
  • Minor: Slavery, Violence, Police brutality
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders

More information about the book:


“News from Nowhere (1890) is the best-known prose work of William Morris and the only significant English utopia to be written since Thomas More’s. The novel describes the encounter between a visitor from the nineteenth century, William Guest, and a decentralized and humane socialist future. Set over a century after a revolutionary upheaval in 1952, these “Chapters from a Utopian Romance” recount his journey across London and up the Thames to Kelmscott Manor, Morris’s own country house in Oxfordshire. Drawing on the work of John Ruskin and Karl Marx, Morris’s book is not only an evocative statement of his egalitarian convictions but also a distinctive contribution to the utopian tradition. Morris’s rejection of state socialism and his ambition to transform the relationship between humankind and the natural world, give News from Nowhere a particular resonance for modern readers.”

About the author:

William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. His literary contributions helped to establish the modern fantasy genre, while he campaigned for socialism in Victorian Great Britain. After reading works of Henry George, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Karl Marx in the 1880s Morris became a committed revolutionary socialist activist. He founded the Socialist League in 1884. Best known in his lifetime for his poetry, he posthumously became better known for his designs, but his radical politics is also an inspiration to many (taken from Wikipedia, link below).

Resources

About our events

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash if you can afford it (a few pounds would be great).

We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. We do not want the sessions to feel like school – the idea is that everyone has something to contribute, even if primarily through finding the discussion texts difficult and having questions with other attendees can attempt to answer.

To ensure marginalised people feel welcome, we encourage care and thoughtful contributions that respect people’s identities and lives. We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive and anti-racist space.

Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

Get in touch
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

About the venue

The venue for this session is Redz Youth Hub, a hub for organising, creativity, and community building. It’s a free space for young people to host their own events, workshops, and meetups. They’ve been hosting sessions by Mutiny: Stroud’s Youth Assembly and The RYSE – the Radical Youth Space for Educations.

Redz is in central Stroud, close to the train station and bus station, with nearby stands to lock bikes, and parking for cars nearby at Fawkes Place or Church St car park. There is step-free access to the ground floor where we will meet. There is a toilet, and some comfortable seating as well as basic folding chairs. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub (around the corner) for anyone who wants to continue chatting after 9.30pm.

Events

Wednesday 24th June – A People’s History of Football

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On Wednesday 24th June 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of “A People’s History of Football”. The Men’s Football World Cup will have kicked off, and we’ll be looking at two versions of this book taking a global and diverse perspective from the origins of the sport to the present day (text and graphic novel versions of the book). We will meet at Redz Youth Hub, 6 Threadneedle St, GL5 1AF. Entry is free but please bring some cash if you can afford to donate to cover venue costs.

“A People’s History of Football” is all about how the “beautiful game” had been a powerful instrument of emancipation for workers, feminists, anti-colonialist activists, young people and protestors around the world”.

Below in our resources section you can find a link to buy one or other of the versions of the book at a discount, and free text, audio and visual resources. There is also more information about the books and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

Anyone interested in the books is welcome – we recommend reading one or other of the books but you don’t need to have read either to join us. You do not need to have attended any of our previous sessions. We do our best to make the sessions welcoming to people who have not been to reading groups or similar settings like university seminars before.

Content warnings (submitted by Storygraph users):

  • Moderate Racism, Sexism, Lesbophobia
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders

More information about the book:


“Football has always been so much more than the billionaire buyers and seven-figure signing fees. With the women’s game now more popular than ever, one thing is clear: when it comes to football, only half the story is usually told. Would the Lionesses ever have roared without the Munitionettes? If you look beyond the men in suits at FIFA and the corporate World Cup, you’ll find a history unparalleled in the world of sport.
“Football has always been so much more than the billionaire buyers and seven-figure signing fees. With the women’s game now more popular than ever, one thing is clear: when it comes to football, only half the story is usually told. Would the Lionesses ever have roared without the Munitionettes? If you look beyond the men in suits at FIFA and the corporate World Cup, you’ll find a history unparalleled in the world of sport.

From England, France and Germany to Palestine, South Africa and Brazil, A People’s History of Football reveals how the ‘beautiful game’ has been a powerful instrument of emancipation for workers, feminists, anti-colonialist activists, young people and protesters around the world.

This entertaining history from below is beautifully rendered by award-winning illustrator Lelio Bonaccorso, bringing players from history to life in vivid colour. From the game’s unruly feudal origins right up to the present day, immerse yourself in the stories of professionals and amateurs alike, and feel the powerful force of a game that is as generous as it is subversive.”

About the author, translator and illustrators:

Mickaël Correia is a journalist at Mediapart. He is the author of several books, and his work focuses on social and ecological struggles as well as working-class culture. He has written for Le Monde Diplomatique, Le Canard Enchaîné and La Revue du Crieur. His passion for football began when he was 4, with kickabouts on the streets of Roubaix.

Fionn Petch is a Scottish translator with a doctorate in philosophy from the National University of Mexico. As a translator, he has translated fiction, poetry, drama and children’s books. He also works on books and exhibition catalogues on art and architecture. Among his noted translations are A Straggly Smile by Vanessa Saint Cyr, The Distance Between Us by Renato Cisneros and Fireflies by Luis Sagasti.

Jean-Christophe Deveney is a French comic book writer whose many publications include adaptations of stories by Haruki Murakami.

Lelio Bonaccorso is an award-winning Italian comic artist and illustrator. He has published extensively in the international arena, including for major American comic book publishers like Marvel and DC.

Resources

About our events

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash if you can afford it (a few pounds would be great).

We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. We do not want the sessions to feel like school – the idea is that everyone has something to contribute, even if primarily through finding the discussion texts difficult and having questions with other attendees can attempt to answer.

To ensure marginalised people feel welcome, we encourage care and thoughtful contributions that respect people’s identities and lives. We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive and anti-racist space.

Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

Get in touch
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

About the venue

The venue for this session is Redz Youth Hub, a hub for organising, creativity, and community building. It’s a free space for young people to host their own events, workshops, and meetups. They’ve been hosting sessions by Mutiny: Stroud’s Youth Assembly and The RYSE – the Radical Youth Space for Educations.

Redz is in central Stroud, close to the train station and bus station, with nearby stands to lock bikes, and parking for cars nearby at Fawkes Place or Church St car park. There is step-free access to the ground floor where we will meet. There is a toilet, and some comfortable seating as well as basic folding chairs. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub (around the corner) for anyone who wants to continue chatting after 9.30pm.

Events

Wednesday 27th May: We Will Rise Again – stories and essays on protest, resistance and hope

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On Wednesday 27th May 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of the edited collection We Will Rise Again – speculative stories on protest, resistance and hope. The event will be held at Redz, 6 Threadneedle St, Stroud – and is free to attend.

We Will Rise Again mixes fiction and non-fiction and explores the value of speculation in informing movements on disability justice, environmentalism, community care and anticolonial resistance. Editors Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older champion realistic, progressive social change using the speculative stories of writers across the world. Authors include NK Jemisin, Charlie Jane Anders, Alejandro Heredia, Sam J. Miller, Nisi Shawl, and Sabrina Vourvoulias.

Below in our resources section you can find a link to buy the book at a discount, and free text, audio and visual resources. There is also more information about the books and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

We will meet at Redz Youth Hub, 6 Threadneedle St, GL5 1AF. Entry is free but please bring some cash if you can afford to donate to cover venue costs.

Anyone interested in the book is welcome – we recommend reading as much of it as possible but you don’t need to have read any of it to join us. One story from the collection is available below for free as a sample. You do not need to have attended any of our previous sessions. We do our best to make the sessions welcoming to people who have not been to reading groups or similar settings like university seminars before.

Content warnings (submitted by Storygraph users):

  • Graphic: Police brutality, Pandemic/Epidemic, Gore
  • Moderate: Transphobia, Violence, Murder
  • Minor: Racism, Suicide, Colonisation
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders

About “We Will Rise Again”


“Each story is grounded within a broader sociopolitical framework using essays and interviews from movement leaders, including adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha, charting the future history of protest, revolutions, and resistance with the same zeal for accuracy that speculative writers normally bring to science and technology. Using the vehicle of ambitious storytelling, We Will Rise Again offers effective tools for organizing, an unflinching interrogation of the status quo, and a blueprint for prefiguring a different world.”

Resources

About our events

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash if you can afford it (a few pounds would be great).

We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. We do not want the sessions to feel like school – the idea is that everyone has something to contribute, even if primarily through finding the discussion texts difficult and having questions with other attendees can attempt to answer.

To ensure marginalised people feel welcome, we encourage care and thoughtful contributions that respect people’s identities and lives. We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive and anti-racist space.

Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

Get in touch
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

About the venue

The venue for this session is Redz Youth Hub, a hub for organising, creativity, and community building. It’s a free space for young people to host their own events, workshops, and meetups. They’ve been hosting sessions by Mutiny: Stroud’s Youth Assembly and The RYSE – the Radical Youth Space for Educations.

Redz is in central Stroud, close to the train station and bus station, with nearby stands to lock bikes, and parking for cars nearby at Fawkes Place or Church St car park. There is step-free access to the ground floor where we will meet. There is a toilet, and some comfortable seating as well as basic folding chairs. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub (around the corner) for anyone who wants to continue chatting after 9.30pm.

Events

Wednesday 29th April: Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler

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On Wednesday 29th April 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a talk & discussion of the novel Parable of the Talents, by Octavia Butler. The event will be held at Redz, 6 Threadneedle St, Stroud – and is free to attend.

Parable of the Talents follows Lauren Olamina, also the lead character in Parable of the Sower – which we read last year. Published in 1998, the world of these books is one of climate breakdown. Parable of the Talents is infamous for presciently featuring a hyper-conservative Christian fundamentalist candidate rising to power under the slogan “Make America Great Again.” While we’d recommend reading Parable of the Sower, you can read Parable of the Talents and join our reading group session without having read the earlier book.

Below in our resources section you can find a link to buy the book at a discount, and free text, audio and visual resources. There is also more information about the books and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

We will meet at Redz Youth Hub, 6 Threadneedle St, GL5 1AF. Entry is free but please bring some cash if you can afford to donate to cover venue costs.

Anyone interested in the books is welcome – we recommend reading one or other of the books but you don’t need to have read either to join us. You do not need to have attended any of our previous sessions. We do our best to make the sessions welcoming to people who have not been to reading groups or similar settings like university seminars before.

Content warnings (submitted by Storygraph users):

  • Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Violence
  • Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse
  • Minor: War, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders

About “Parable of The Talents”

Winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel: The powerful and compelling sequel to the dystopian classic Parable of the Sower
Lauren Olamina was only eighteen when her family was killed, and anarchy encroached on her Southern California home. She fled the war zone for the hope of quiet and safety in the north. There she founded Acorn, a peaceful community based on a religion of her creation, called Earthseed, whose central tenet is that God is change. Five years later, Lauren has married a doctor and given birth to a daughter. Acorn is beginning to thrive. But outside the tranquil group’s walls, America is changing for the worse.

Presidential candidate Andrew Steele Jarret wins national fame by preaching a return to the values of the American golden age. To his marauding followers, who are identified by their crosses and black robes, this is a call to arms to end religious tolerance and racial equality—a brutal doctrine they enforce by machine gun. And as this band of violent extremists sets its deadly sights on Earthseed, Acorn is plunged into a harrowing fight for its very survival.

Taking its place alongside Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Butler’s eerily prophetic novel offers a terrifying vision of our potential future, but also one of hope.

About Octavia Butler

Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006) was an American science fiction writer. She won many awards including for her short stories. She began writing science fiction as a teenager. Butler attended community college during the Black Power movement in the 1960s. Butler’s books and short stories drew the favorable attention of critics and the public, and awards soon followed. She also taught writer’s workshops, and spoke about her experiences as an African American, using such themes in science fiction. She is also the author of Parable of the Sower (which we read last year), Kindred, the Patternist series, and the short story Bloodchild (which we read in 2019).

Resources

About our events

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash if you can afford it (a few pounds would be great).

We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. We do not want the sessions to feel like school – the idea is that everyone has something to contribute, even if primarily through finding the discussion texts difficult and having questions with other attendees can attempt to answer.

To ensure marginalised people feel welcome, we encourage care and thoughtful contributions that respect people’s identities and lives. We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive and anti-racist space.

Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

Get in touch
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

About the venue

The venue for this session is Redz Youth Hub, a hub for organising, creativity, and community building. It’s a free space for young people to host their own events, workshops, and meetups. They’ve been hosting sessions by Mutiny: Stroud’s Youth Assembly and The RYSE – the Radical Youth Space for Educations.

Redz is in central Stroud, close to the train station and bus station, with nearby stands to lock bikes, and parking for cars nearby at Fawkes Place or Church St car park. There is step-free access to the ground floor where we will meet. There is a toilet, and some comfortable seating as well as basic folding chairs. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub (around the corner) for anyone who wants to continue chatting after 9.30pm.

Events

Thursday 26th March: Climate Breakdown – what now? Author talk & discussion

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On Thursday 26th March 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a talk & discussion on the future of climate action in the UK – unlike our usual events, booking is required.

The main speaker will be Nicholas Beuret – author of “Or Something Worse: Why We Need to Disrupt the Climate Transition“, which “exposes the bleak realities of the transition to a carbon-neutral economy.” Nic argues that “Greening the economy has become a one-sided war, as governments and businesses squeeze the living standards of ordinary people. We need to seize control of the transition in order to reshape it to equitable ends.” His book “follows those already fighting back through ‘don’t pay’ campaigns, blockades of fossil-fuel infrastructure, and community counter-planning. He shows we have the tools not only to stop climate change but to build a fairer future.”

Alongside him, Jo Woolfall, who lives in Stroud and was been part of a small team who co-founded XR Families, will speak about the formation of the “Lifehouse – Collapse Preparing Comunities Network”. This local group has been in the thinking and planning for nearly three years, and are moving into learning by doing in 2026. The group has recently taken inspiration from Adam Greenfield’s book “Lifehouse:Taking Care of Ourselves in a World on Fire”, core elements of which are Lifehouse centres, mutual aid networks, deliberative democracy and implementation networks.

After hearing from both our guests, we’ll have discussion in pairs or small groups, before a full audience Q&A / discussion section.

Below in our resources section you can find a link to buy the books at a discount, and free text, audio and visual resources. There is also more information about the books and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

We will meet at Redz Youth Hub, 6 Threadneedle St, GL5 1AF. Entry is free but for this event you will need to book via this link. Please bring some cash if you can afford to donate to cover venue costs.

Anyone interested in the books is welcome – we recommend reading one or other of the books but you don’t need to have read either to join us. You do not need to have attended any of our previous sessions. We do our best to make the sessions welcoming to people who have not been to reading groups or similar settings like university seminars before.

Book a Space for the BOOK TALK & DISCUSSION
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders

About “Or Something Worse”

The push for net zero has become a new arena for class conflict, where the powerful profit and the rest suffer. Nicholas Beuret’s incisive critique and actionable strategies empower us to fight for a truly sustainable and equitable future. Or Something Worse exposes the bleak realities of the transition to a carbon-neutral economy. Greening the economy has become a one-sided war, as governments and businesses squeeze the living standards of ordinary people. We need to seize control of the transition in order to reshape it to equitable ends. Existing policies won’t limit global heating to anything close to a safe level. Claims of sustainability disguise a zero-sum battle where the powerful profit and everyone else foots the bill. Green growth was supposed to bring increased wealth for all. Instead, work has been degraded, energy bills have soared, and the most basic necessities have become expensive and scarce. We need to disrupt green capitalism. Nicholas Beuret follows those already fighting back through ‘don’t pay’ campaigns, blockades of fossil-fuel infrastructure, and community counter-planning. He shows we have the tools not only to stop climate change but to build a fairer future.

About Nicholas Beuret

Nicholas Beuret is a lecturer in environmental politics and economic geography at the University of Essex. With a background in both activism and academia, he explores the intersections of climate change, capitalism, and social justice. His work has been featured in the Guardian, The Ecologist, Open Democracy, and Undercurrents. Nicholas lives in the UK, where he continues to write, teach, and engage in environmental advocacy.

Resources

About our events

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash if you can afford it (a few pounds would be great).

We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. We do not want the sessions to feel like school – the idea is that everyone has something to contribute, even if primarily through finding the discussion texts difficult and having questions with other attendees can attempt to answer.

To ensure marginalised people feel welcome, we encourage care and thoughtful contributions that respect people’s identities and lives. We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive and anti-racist space.

Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

Get in touch
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

About the venue

The venue for this session is Redz Youth Hub, a hub for organising, creativity, and community building. It’s a free space for young people to host their own events, workshops, and meetups. They’ve been hosting sessions by Mutiny: Stroud’s Youth Assembly and The RYSE – the Radical Youth Space for Educations.

Redz is in central Stroud, close to the train station and bus station, with nearby stands to lock bikes, and parking for cars nearby at Fawkes Place or Church St car park. There is step-free access to the ground floor where we will meet. There is a toilet, and some comfortable seating as well as basic folding chairs. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub (around the corner) for anyone who wants to continue chatting after 9.30pm.

Events

Wednesday 25th February 2026: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love by Joy James

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On Wednesday 25th February 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love: Precarity, Power, Communities by Dr Joy James. In a month when many people will be thinking of romantic love for Valentines Day, we will be reading a book that looks at “Showing up and learning how to live by and with others, learning how to reinvent ourselves in th[e] increasing wasteland” that surrounds us, where “Violence is arrayed against us because we’re Black, or female, or queer, or undocumented” and “. “There is no rescue team coming for us.” Dr Joy James argues “there’s a beauty to facing the reality of our lives”.

Below in our resources section you can find a link to buy the book at a discount, and free text, audio and visual resources. There is also more information about the book and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

We will meet at Redz Youth Hub, 6 Threadneedle St, GL5 1AF. Entry is free and anyone interested in the book is welcome – you don’t need to have read it to join us. See below for more information.

Entry to the reading group session is free and everyone is welcome – you do not need to have attended previous sessions, and we do our best to make the sessions welcoming to people who have not been to reading groups or similar settings like university seminars before. We encourage people to read as much of the book as possible, but you are welcome to attend to listen to the discussion without reading any of it.

Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders

About Revolutionary Love

“Violence is arrayed against us because we’re Black, or female, or queer, or undocumented. There is no rescue team coming for us. With that knowledge, we need a different operational base to recreate the world. It is not going to be a celebrity savior. Never was, never will be. If you’re in a religious tradition that is millennia-old, consider how the last savior went out. It was always going to be bloody. It was always going to be traumatic. But there’s a beauty to facing the reality of our lives. Not our lives as they’re broken apart, written about, and then sold back to us in academic or celebrity discourse. But our lives as we understand them. The most important thing is showing up. Showing up and learning how to live by and with others, learning how to reinvent ourselves in this increasing wasteland. That’s the good life.”

About Joy James

Joy James is a political philosopher, academic and author. She is the author of numerous books including Resisting State Violence (University of Minnesota Press, 1996), Transcending the Talented Tenth (Routledge, 1997), Seeking the Beloved Community (SUNY Press, 2013), and New Bones Abolition: Captive Maternal Agency and the Afterlife of Erica Garner (Common Notions, 2023). She has also edited collections includingThe Angela Y. Davis Reader (Blackwell, 1998), and The New Abolitionists (SUNY Press, 2005). She teaches at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Resources

  • Buy In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love from The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop – £12.79 with discount (RRP £15.99, saving £3.20). To get the discount: Look at your “basket”, and enter the “couponcode” 26stroudradical. Pick up your book from their Nailsworth, Tetbury or Chalford shops, or get books delivered to your door for £3.50 postage.
  • Read “The Alchemy of Abolitionisms” – an interview between Dr Joy James and Kalonji Change explore how, “When academics are read more than incarcerated thinkers, it becomes possible to forget the movement’s radical roots”
  • Listen to Joy James discusssing revolutionary love, care under racial capitalism and the captive maternal in a 70 minute Red Medicine podcast episode
  • Watch Dr. Joy James interviewed by Kalonji Changa, discussing “In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love” on the Black Liberation Media YouTube channel (embedded below)

About our events

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover venue hire costs – please bring some cash if you can afford it (a few pounds would be great).

We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university. We do not want the sessions to feel like school – the idea is that everyone has something to contribute, even if primarily through finding the discussion texts difficult and having questions with other attendees can attempt to answer.

To ensure marginalised people feel welcome, we encourage care and thoughtful contributions that respect people’s identities and lives. We are an LGBTQ+ inclusive and anti-racist space.

Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing.

Get in touch
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

About the venue

The venue for this session is Redz Youth Hub, a hub for organising, creativity, and community building. It’s a free space for young people to host their own events, workshops, and meetups. They’ve been hosting sessions by Mutiny: Stroud’s Youth Assembly and The RYSE – the Radical Youth Space for Educations.

Redz is in central Stroud, close to the train station and bus station, with nearby stands to lock bikes, and parking for cars nearby at Fawkes Place or Church St car park. There is step-free access to the ground floor where we will meet. There is a toilet, and some comfortable seating as well as basic folding chairs. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub (around the corner) for anyone who wants to continue chatting after 9.30pm.

Stroud Radical Reading Group meets once a month. Here you can find details of sessions, links, and further information