On Wednesday 27th May 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a talk & 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 butplease 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.
“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
Buy “We Will Rise Again” – £15.29 with discount (RRP £17.99, saving £2.70).To get the discount from The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop: 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.
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.
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
Stroud Radical Reading Group 