The Stroud Book Festival have announced several notable guest speakers who will be appearing at this year’s event.

The Festival, now in its third year, gets underway on 7th November. Mary Portas will be in conversation about her new book ‘Work Like a Woman’, a bold manifesto for women in business. Will McCallum, Head of Oceans at Greenpeace, will be appearing to explain how to give up plastic, and present the evidence for why we all should do so, as explained in his new book, ‘How to Give Up Plastic: A Guide to Changing the World, One Plastic Bottle at a Time’.

Acclaimed novelist and screenwriter, Patrick Gale, will be talking about his new novel, ‘Take Nothing With You’, about a young boy whose life is transformed when his mother signs him up for cello lessons. Also, on a musical note, former Labour Home Secretary, Alan Johnson will be appearing to talk about his latest memoir, ‘In My Life’ about the music which has inspired him, including his lifelong devotion to The Beatles.

In the 70th birthday year of the NHS, Christie Watson, author of ‘The Language of Kindness: A Nurse’s Story’, will discuss what it means to devote your life to care for your fellow human beings with Sam Guglani, Cheltenham oncologist and author of short story collection, ‘Histories’.

Louise Brice, Head of Marketing for the festival, says the five-day event will be a real celebration of local and national authors. She said: “We’re very pleased to announce such an exciting array of guest speakers for this year’s festival. We’ll also be featuring local up-and-coming authors as well. The festival is a great celebration of talent, both here in Gloucestershire and further afield. There’s a big pool of literary talent in the local area and we’re pleased to be featuring several local authors.

“We’ll also be staging a designated Schools Day on Thursday 8th November, with a programme of events aimed at primary school children across the Five Valleys. The winners of our 2018 writing competitions will also be announced during festival week which is very exciting.

“We want to build on the success of the last two festivals and welcome as many people we can for what will be a fantastic few days for the town.”

The five-day Festival will be held at venues across Stroud from 7th until 11th November 2018. Tickets will be on sale in early autumn.