Tag Archives: resistance

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 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.

Events

Wednesday 28th January 2026: The Matchbox Girl (for Holocaust Memorial Day)

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On Wednesday 28th January 2026, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of The Matchbox Girl, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. This is a book written by a local (as well as multi-award-winning) author, Alice Jolly. The book is described as a “beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel telling the story of a young girl’s battle for survival and search for the truth in occupied Vienna”. It explores themes of neurodiversity, fascism, collaboration, and resistance. Our discussion will follow Community Solidarity Stroud District’s annual memorial ceremony on Sunday 26th January, which this year will be addressed by Alice Jolly among other speakers.

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.

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

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 The Matchstick Girl

“I began by thinking that the story I wanted to tell was primarily about Dr Asperger – and it is. But what I discovered is that he worked with an amazing team of people who have been largely left out of the historical record. They lived through so much. Anni Weiss and Georg Frankl were amazing pioneers of autism research, but they were Jewish and had to flee Vienna and make new lives in America. Sister Viktorine stayed working at the hospital even though she knew that appalling decisions were being made. Another key character, Dr Josef Feldner, decided to hide a Jewish boy in plain sight, simply introducing him to everyone as ‘my nephew.’.. For Adelheid [the book’s narrator], the growing chaos in Vienna is terrifying. She loves order and the Reich seems to offer her that, but she has failed to realise that she personally is particular vulnerable to the brutalities of the Nazis.” – Alice Jolly, taken from this Bloomsbury interview

About Alice Jolly

Alice Jolly is a novelist and playwright. Her writing has been awarded the PEN/Ackerley Prize, an O Henry Prize and the V. S. Pritchett Memorial Prize, and been longlisted for Ondaatje Prize and the Rathbones Folio Prize. She teaches on the Creative Writing Masters at Oxford University, and has taken part in and been arrested as part of a Just Stop Oil action.

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 26th November 2025: Lipstick Traces: a secret history of the 20th Century by Griel Marcus

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On Wednesday 26th November 2025, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of Lipstick Traces: a secret history of the 20th Century by Griel Marcus. 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.

The book examines alternative histories of resistance and reads the archival record ‘against the grain’, exploring parallels between underground 20th century art movements such as Dada, the political theories that inspired French youth to revolt in May 1968 and the punk explosion in late-70s Britain. This is a big book, physically at least, so we will focus our discussion on the opening prologue and first chapter “The Last Sex Pistols Concert”. While the book follows on well from our previous readings, you do not need to have attended a Radical Reading Group session before to attend for this session.

Below in our resources section you can find a link to buy the book at a discount, a free PDF version of both the whole book, and the section we offer as a focus for our discussion, and free audio/visual resources. There is also more information about the book and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

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.

About the book:

This book is about a single, serpentine fact: late in 1976 a record called ‘Anarchy in the UK’ was issued in London, and this event launched a transformation of pop music all over the world. Made by a four-man rock’n’roll band called the Sex Pistols, and written by singer Johnny Rotten, the song distilled, in crudely poetic form, a critique of modern society once set out by a small group of Paris-based intellectuals. First organised in 1952 as the Lettrist International, and refounded in 1957 at a conference of European avant-garde artists as the Situationist International, the group gained its greatest notoriety during the French revolt of May 1968, when its slogans were spray-painted across the walls of Paris, after which their critique was given up to history and the group disappeared. The group looked back to the surrealists of the 1920s, the Dadaists who made their names during and just after the First World War, the young Karl Marx, Saint-Just, various medieval heretics, and the Knights of the Round Table.

“Some people say a record or a film changed their life. In my case, it was a book. Griel Marcus’s Lipstick Traces did that back in 1990. It really was that important” – Nicky Wire, bassist and lyricist in the Manic Street Preachers

About the author

Greil Marcus (né Gerstley; born June 19, 1945) is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a broader framework of culture and politics.

His other books include Mystery Train (published in 1975), notable for placing rock and roll in the context of American cultural archetypes; Dead Elvis, a collection of writings about Elvis Presley, in 1991, Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes, published in 1997, and Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads – a book providing full analysis and context of the 1965 song.

Resources

LipstickTracesFocusDownload
LipstickTracesFullDownload

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.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub for anyone who wants to continue their evening.

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 – see their schedule for the rest of the year here, including sessions on the Peace Movement, Stroud Water riots, and decolonial action.

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 but for this session we will be meeting upstairs. 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.

Get in touch
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions
Events

Wednesday 29th October 2025: Black History Month – Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments by Saidiya Hartman

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On Wednesday 29th October 2025, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women and Queer Radicals, Saidiya Hartman. 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.

October is Black History Month and while this isn’t the only book of Black history we are discussing this year, it is a book that explore Black history.

Wayward Lives… look at how, at the dawn of the twentieth century, black women in the US were carving out new ways of living. The first generations born after emancipation, their struggle was to live as if they really were free.

Below in our resources section you can find a link to buy the book at a discount, content notes, free audio/visual resources and a 20 page excerpt from the book. There is also more information about the book and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

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 the whole book, but you are welcome to attend to listen to the discussion without reading any of it. An excerpt, podcast interview, and youtube video are available for those who do not have the time or money for the whole book.

Content notes:

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Rape

Moderate: Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault

Also mentioned: Pedophilia, Slavery, Sexual harassment

Taken from Storygraph – click for more detail

About the book:

In Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments, Saidiya Hartman deploys both radical scholarship and profound literary intelligence to examine the transformation of intimate life that Black women in the generations born after emancipation instigated in the USA. With visionary intensity, she conjures their worlds, their dilemmas, their defiant brilliance.

These women refused to labour like slaves. Wrestling with the question of freedom, they invented forms of love and solidarity outside convention and law. These were the pioneers of free love, common-law and transient marriages, queer identities, and single motherhood – all deemed scandalous, even pathological, at the dawn of the twentieth century, though they set the pattern for the world to come.

About the author

Saidiya Hartman is an American academic and writer focusing on African-American studies. She is currently a professor at Columbia University in their English department. Her work focuses on African-American literature, cultural history, photography and ethics, and the intersections of law and literature.

As well as Wayward Lives, she is the author Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making in Nineteenth-Century America (1997), Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route (2007)

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.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub for anyone who wants to continue their evening.

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 – see their schedule for the rest of the year here, including sessions on the Peace Movement, Stroud Water riots, and decolonial action.

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. It is one street over from John St – for those who have joined recent sessions at Creative Sustainability. 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.

Get in touch
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions
Events

Wednesday 24th September 2025: Burn Out – The Emotional Experience of Political Defeat

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On Wednesday 24th September 2025, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of Burnout: The Emotional Experience of Political Defeat at The Exchange, Brick Row, Stroud, GL5 1DF (free entry). Anyone is welcome. The session will be introduced by regular attendee, Helen.

An unending stream of grim news from our own country and around the world, on top of the struggles of living under capitalism and an increasingly authoritarian state can feel overwhelming. Our political ancestors have faced similar circumstances – how did organisers and activists of the past keep going? In Burnout, Hannah Proctor answers that question through historical examples, exploring “how revolutionary movements have balanced the grief of political defeat and lost hope, with the imminent needs of organising and continued resistance”.

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

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. The whole point is to help each other not only understand the book but relate it to our own lives and the actions we take – to read and discuss the book not only to change our minds, but to change the world.

We encourage people to read the whole book, but you are welcome to attend to listen to the discussion without reading any of it. An excerpt, podcast interview, and youtube video are available for those who do not have the time or money for the whole book.

About the book:

In the struggle for a better world, setbacks are inevitable. Defeat can feel overwhelming at times, but it has to be endured. How then do the people on the front line keep going? To answer that question, Hannah Proctor draws on historical resources to find out how revolutionaries and activists of the past kept a grip on hope.

Burnout considers despairing former Communards exiled to a penal colony in the South Pacific; exhausted Bolsheviks recuperating in sanatoria in the aftermath of the October Revolution; an ex-militant on the analyst’s couch relating dreams of ruined landscapes; Chinese peasants engaging in self-criticism sessions; a political organiser seeking advice from a spiritual healer; civil rights movement activists battling weariness; and a group of feminists padding a room with mattresses to scream about the patriarchy. Jettisoning self-help narratives and individualizing therapy talk, Proctor offers a different way forward – neither denial nor despair. Her cogent exploration of the ways militants have made sense of their own burnout demonstrates that it is possible to mourn and organise at once, and to do both without compromise.

About the author

Hannah Proctor is a historian of the human sciences interested in intersections between left-wing politics and the psy’ disciplines, Communist and anti-Communist theories of the mind, histories and theories of radical psychiatry, theories and practices of Freudo-Marxism, and emotional histories of the left.

She has written for both academic and non-academic publications on topics including rayon stockings, gender and the death drive, utopian pedagogy, Communist motherhood, wrinkles, the aesthetics of fMRI, Soviet babies, revolutionary commemoration, British antipsychiatry, mourning, Carl Jung’s influence on Jordan Peterson, depression, perfume and Ulrike Meinhof’s brain.

Resources

  • Buy Burn Out from the Yellow Lighted Bookshop – RRP £14.99, £12.74 with discount (saving £2.25). To get a 15% discount: Look at your “basket”, and enter the “couponcode” 25stroudradical. Pick up book from Nailsworth, Tetbury or Chalford shops, or get books delivered to your door for £3.50 postage. If posting books, you may wish to buy other books we are reading this year.
  • Read “Beyond Left Melancholy“, a 4,500 word excerpt from the book – approximately 30 minute read.
  • Listen to an 80 minute interview (embedded below) with host, Eleanor Penny, author Hannah Proctor and Ajay Singh Chaudhary (author of a different book – The Exhausted of the Earth: Politics in a Burning World) discussing how revolutionary movements have balanced the grief of political defeat and lost hope, with the imminent needs of organising and continued resistance.
  • Watch a 90 minute interview with the author hosted by Haymarket Books (embedded below), discussing how to maintain hope in the face of despair, with Hannah Proctor and Sarah Jaffe.
  • Explore Hannah Proctor’s website with further links to her work and reviews.

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.

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.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub for anyone who wants to continue their evening.

About the venue

We will meet in the Robert Owen Room at The Exchange, Brick Row, Stroud. This is the smaller of two meeting rooms at The Exchange, at the end of the covered walkway, which provides step-free access. There is a small kitchen next door – which we’ll use to provide people with water. There are two toilets, including an accessible toilet. The Exchange is a short walk (10 minutes) from Stroud Bus Station or Train Station. There is a small amount of parking at the venue, and more parking in the nearby Church St car park. The room is clean and bright. We pay for the room, so will collect donations at the end of the session – please bring a little cash if you can – approimately £3 would be great.

Get in touch
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions

Events

Wednesday 27th August 2025: Toussaint Louverture, The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History

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On Wednesday 27th August 2025, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of Toussaint Louverture, The Story of the Only Successful Slave Revolt in History (free entry). We will meet at Redz Youth Hub, 6 Threadneedle St, GL5 1AF. See below for more information on the venue.

The session will be introduced by long-time regular attendee, Asha.

In 1791, the enslaved people of the most prized French sugar plantation colony, San Domingo, revolted against their masters. For over twelve years, against a backdrop of the French Revolution, they fought an epic black liberation struggle for control of the island.

Theirs was the first and only successful slave revolution. It was the creation of Haiti as a nation, the first independent black republic outside of Africa, and an international inspiration to the persecuted and enslaved. This month’s book is the impassioned and beautifully drawn story of the Haitian Revolution and its incredible leader: Toussaint Louverture, based on a play by C.L.R. James – whose book The Black Jacobins is highly revered, and which we discussed as a group in October 2020.

Below in our resources section you can find a link to buy the book at a discount, content notes, and free audio/visual resources including a 20 page excerpt from the book. There is also more information about the book and Stroud Radical Reading Group events.

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 the whole book, but you are welcome to attend to listen to the discussion without reading any of it. An excerpt, podcast interview, and youtube video are available for those who do not have the time or money for the whole book.

Content notes:

Discussions of slavery, non-graphic portrayals of scars from beatings, period depictions of racism and classism, depictions of slave ships and drowning, non-graphic portrayal of armed conflict.

About the book:

The end of slavery started in what was then San Domingo. In 1791, the enslaved people of the most prized French sugar plantation colony revolted against their masters. For over twelve years, against a backdrop of the French Revolution, they fought an epic black liberation struggle for control of the island.

Theirs was the first and only successful slave revolution. It was the creation of Haiti as a nation, the first independent black republic outside of Africa, and an international inspiration to the persecuted and enslaved. This is the impassioned and beautifully drawn story of the Haitian Revolution and its incredible leader: Toussaint Louverture.

Further background

The text of this graphic novel is a play by C. L. R. James that opened in London in 1936 with Paul Robeson in the title role. For the first time, black actors appeared on the British stage in a work by a black playwright. The script had been lost for almost seventy years when a draft copy was discovered among James’s archives.

Toussaint Louverture is an indispensable companion work to The Black Jacobins (1938), James’s classic account of Haiti’s revolutionary struggle for liberation.

The extraordinary drama has been reimagined by artists Nic Watts and Sakina Karimjee.

Nic Watts is a freelance illustrator who has illustrated a range of works including newspapers, booklets and comics. This is his first graphic novel.

Sakina Karimjee is a theatre designer and draughtsperson. She co-produced the book with Watts.

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.

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.

There is an opportunity for more informal discussion after the session in the Ale House pub for anyone who wants to continue their evening.

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 – see their schedule for the rest of the year here, including sessions on the Peace Movement, Stroud Water riots, and decolonial action.

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. It is one street over from John St – for those who have joined recent sessions at Creative Sustainability. 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.

Get in touch
Facebook event – invite friends/receive reminders
Join the Stroud Radical Reading Facebook Group for online discussion with others who attend the discussions