Derby Book Festival

Derby Book Festival We bring books to life. Save the dates for 2026:
22 - 31 May - Summer Edition
13 - 15 November - Autumn Edition

The Derby Book Festival will take place this summer, featuring internationally acclaimed and best-selling authors, and confirming Derby’s reputation as a festival city. The sixth Festival, which will be held between 27 May - 5 June 2021, aims to bring Derby’s residents together in a love of books and inspire a new generation of readers. The Festival is organised in partnership with all the major a

rts and cultural partners in the city: QUAD, Déda, Derby Museums, Derby LIVE, Derby Theatre, the University of Derby, Derby College, Waterstones, Marketing Derby and Derby City Council who will all host events. There will also be events for all primary and secondary schools with author visits and competitions. To find out more, visit the Festival website and sign up for more information: www.derbybookfestival.co.uk. You can also follow the Festival on Twitter at: .

This week we have sessions including . No need to book, just pop along and see us. We'd love to see you there!Joining ...
02/06/2026

This week we have sessions including . No need to book, just pop along and see us. We'd love to see you there!

Joining a Shared Reading group is a wonderful way to lift your spirits and improve your well-being.

A warm and friendly welcome awaits you at one of our free sessions 💛

✨ Enjoy an hour of connection and conversation
✨ Dive into poems, stories, letters, quotes, lyrics, and more
✨ No pressure to read aloud – just relax and enjoy

Our groups are welcoming, engaging, and totally free to join! Check out what’s coming up this week – swipe 👉 and see for yourself! 📖

Yesterday was the last day of our Summer Festival! 🎟️We had another full day at QUAD and kicking off the day was profess...
01/06/2026

Yesterday was the last day of our Summer Festival! 🎟️

We had another full day at QUAD and kicking off the day was professor James Cheshire who revealed why cartography really matters and how map-making has helped transform our understanding of the world around us.

Next up we were joined by psychologist Dr Madeleine Pownall who shared how women have shaped the field of psychology but have been hidden from the narrative over decades.

Dominic Gregory joined us with a powerful story sharing the experience of volunteering on a lifeboat, followed by James Payne who unveils the fascinating stories behind some of the world's most iconic paintings and sculptures.

Last but not least, professor Janina Ramirez peeled back the layers of time to reveal the real women behind the myths that shaped Europe. This event was kindly sponsored by The Pepperpot Derby.

A huge thank you to everyone has joined us for our Summer Festival! ☀️

Professional Photography:

It’s officially the weekend and yesterday was another brilliant day of the festival! 📚Starting off the day with some loc...
31/05/2026

It’s officially the weekend and yesterday was another brilliant day of the festival! 📚

Starting off the day with some local history from North Mills Volunteers leading a talk at Belper Library about The Strutt Mills. We then had a full day at QUAD with 5 events ranging from a wide range of genres.

Jacqueline Riding joined us sharing the history of working-class London in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Then joined by Patrick Gale and Joanna Cannon who were reunited at our festival, which is also a theme which runs through both their new novels, they discussed their love of reading and their inspirations behind their novels.

We had a brilliant children’s workshop as we had an introduction to learning how to play dungeons and dragons, hosted by Becci Smith! 🐉

Next up was Claudia Hammond discussing the psychological toolkit that is both practical and evidence-based that can help us take the pressure off. This event was kindly sponsored by Crystal Care Collection.

Finishing our penultimate day of our summer festival was Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason who shared an inspiring talk of her gifted family and coming of age at a time when Black artistic self-expression is met with disparagement and abuse online.

On to our last day!

Another busy day at the festival! ☀️We had two brilliant children's events at QUAD, kicking off the day with Sam Sedgman...
30/05/2026

Another busy day at the festival! ☀️

We had two brilliant children's events at QUAD, kicking off the day with Sam Sedgman and ‘The Galileo Heist’ which mixes STEM topics with a gripping, fast-paced adventure. Later joined by The Brothers McLeod creators of the hilarious Knight Sir Louis series of books.

Our final event at the Museum of Making during our summer festival was another lovely cream tea, this time with Clare Hunter all about making matters as she explored craft traditions and forms of making from across centuries and cultures. This event was kindly sponsored by Crystal Care Collection.

Back to QUAD for Arthur Snell who joins us with his ground-breaking study into our rapidly changing societies to show how we can live on a warming planet. This event was kindly sponsored by Pennine Healthcare.

Ending the evening at QUAD with Labour Minister Chris Bryant, about his unorthodox life before politics.

On to the weekend!

Professional Photography:

An early start to the morning as we joined Marketing Derby for their bondholder breakfast at the Museum of Making where ...
29/05/2026

An early start to the morning as we joined Marketing Derby for their bondholder breakfast at the Museum of Making where Ben Aitken returned to the festival to talk about his love of unsung cities, including of course, Derby!

Our final CivicLAB event of the festival, joined Simon Heywood and Shonaleigh as we heard about Shonaleigh’s first-ever written collection, featuring 18 of her favourite stories from her family's long tradition.

Cream tea was next as dress historian Kate Strasdin shared the incredible craftsmanship and painstaking effort that goes into dressing the Queen across 200 years. This event was kindly sponsored by Crystal Care Collection.

Our next three events found us at Landau Forte College firstly with a children's event as we were joined by acclaimed Manga artist Chie Kutsuwada as we learnt about the influence of Japanese culture on their books and the tips of learning to draw Manga.

James Rodgers joined us with an engaging look into post-Soviet Russia showing how and why the country has come into confrontation with the West and ending the evening with a talk from Roger Moorhouse into the landmark history of the U-Boat war, which Winston Churchill famously remarked that the threat of the German U-Boats was the only thing that had “really frightened” him during World War Two.

A few more great children's events took place across the day with STEAM Babies taking place and two brilliant Manga Drawing Workshops at Art in the Park. Thank you to everyone who joined! ✏️

Have you seen the bookshop cards at our stall? 📕Our brilliant volunteer Andrew has created these brilliant cards of much...
29/05/2026

Have you seen the bookshop cards at our stall? 📕

Our brilliant volunteer Andrew has created these brilliant cards of much loved bookshops across Derbyshire to help fund our festival!

Pop along to QUAD in Derby across the next few days before our Festival finishes Sunday evening to visit the Derby Book Festival Book Stall to buy yours.

A huge thank you to Andrew!

Address

Derby

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Derby Book Festival posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Derby Book Festival:

Shortcuts

Share