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: .

We are extremely proud to be a pledge partner for the very important National Year of Reading as we support everyone acr...
17/06/2026

We are extremely proud to be a pledge partner for the very important National Year of Reading as we support everyone across Derby to 'Go All In'! 📚

Our summer festival may be over, but we have two incredible author events this summer with Steve Farnsworth and Rob Hopkins and our much loved Bookworms event is back for summer - tickets available on our website now!

And don't forgot to save the date for our autumn festival: 13 - 15 November, see you there 👋

Have you bought your digital pass or recordings yet? 📹Did you miss our summer festival events or want to watch one again...
15/06/2026

Have you bought your digital pass or recordings yet? 📹

Did you miss our summer festival events or want to watch one again? Some of our events were recorded by Fused Media and are now available to buy on our website to watch!

You will receive the links giving you access to our YouTube channel and they will be available to view for a period of six weeks from 5th June to 17th July (except Jo Hamilton's event which the recording is available for 4 weeks)

Thank you to .tv

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Discover our recordings here: https://www.derbybookfestival.co.uk/whats-on/events

✨ Join our community of Shared Reading volunteers✨Love reading? Enjoy sharing ideas in a small, friendly group setting? ...
12/06/2026

✨ Join our community of Shared Reading volunteers✨

Love reading? Enjoy sharing ideas in a small, friendly group setting? If you can spare 2-3 hours per month then Shared Reading could be a perfect fit for you!

We're looking for warm, welcoming volunteers to lead our popular Shared Reading groups across Derby.

No experience? No problem! We’ll give you full training and connect you with a friendly community of fellow volunteers. You’ll always work with others and it’s totally flexible to fit in around your availability.

Shared Reading sessions are about coming together to read aloud (or simply listen) and share any ideas or feelings that emerge. Conversations often blossom into something else entirely … and that’s great! You don’t have to be ‘well read’ to take part.

Shared Reading sows the seeds of connection and community.

Regular groups that meet weekly, fortnightly or monthly - face to face or online - in a variety of settings. Get in touch to find out more!

💛 Make a difference
📖 Share the joy of reading
🙌 Join our community today
👉 Tap the link to find out more https://www.derbybookfestival.co.uk/community/shared-reading or drop us a line at [email protected].

We can’t wait to hear from you!

Community Action Derby | Artcore | Derby Libraries

Our sponsors help make our festival possible and we are forever grateful for the support 🩵A huge thank you to all our sp...
10/06/2026

Our sponsors help make our festival possible and we are forever grateful for the support 🩵

A huge thank you to all our sponsors: Boolers, Cosy Foundation, Crystal Care Collection, Derventio Education (School IP), Marketing Derby, Penguin PR, Pennine Healthcare, Smith Partnership Solicitors, The Pepperpot and to Pam and John Rivers.

We hope everyone had a lovely time at our Summer Festival! ☀️

Professional Photography:

Our 2026 Summer Festival is officially over! ☀️We want to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in our Summer Festiv...
09/06/2026

Our 2026 Summer Festival is officially over! ☀️

We want to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in our Summer Festival, including the authors and guests and of course to our special volunteers who keep the festival running.

Thank you to our funders , our partners and venues, for designing our programme and our sponsors for supporting us.

A huge thank you to for the brilliant photographs and to .tv for our digital recordings which are available on our website now.

SAVE THE DATE - AUTUMN EDITION: 13 - 15 NOVEMBER

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!

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