Stir to Action has announced a new Book Festival in London in May, that brings together leading writers, thinkers, and organisers to explore how power, place, and possibility shape life in Britain today. Connecting social history and political change with the forces reshaping Britain today, the festival explores new approaches to economic regeneration, green democracy, and social ownership – and what they mean for democratic renewal.
Through conversations and panels, authors explore the forces that have shaped Britain – and the possibilities for change. Highlights include Hazel Sheffield, author of Frontierlands (Torva 2026), on precarity and survival in Britain’s frontier economy; Jamie Bartlett, author of How to Talk to AI (WH Allen 2026), on staying in control of AI as it reshapes work and everyday life; Keir Milburn, co-author of Radical Abundance (Pluto Press 2025), on building a green democratic future beyond “bullshit abundance”; Tehila Sasson, author of The Solidarity Economy (Princeton University Press 2024), on the hidden politics of nonprofits and neoliberalism; and Christopher Bickerton, co-author of Technopopulism (OUP Oxford 2021) on the changing logic of democratic politics.
Place and culture run through the programme, from Pete Brown’s Clubland (HarperNorth 2022) exploring the history of working men’s clubs and Emma Warren’s Up the Youth Club (Faber & Faber 2025) excavating youth club culture, to Isaac Rose unpacking Manchester’s rentier transformation in Rentier City (Repeater Books 2024), Ken Worpole reflecting on landscape, memory, and care in Brightening from the East (Little Toller Books 2025) and JC Niala celebrating nature in our cities in The New Eden (Gaia 2026).
Panels also explore:
- inclusive public infrastructure with Wee the People (Bloomsbury 2025)
- the spread of extremism through wellness culture in Fascist Yoga (Pluto Press 2025)
- and the urgent need for reconnection to land and nature through the Wild Service anthology (Bloomsbury 2024).
Rooted in our work on democracy, economy, and community ownership all over Britain, the festival offers a space to think critically and collectively about Britain’s past, present, and possible futures.
22-23 May 2026
St Katharine Cree, London
Tickets at buytickets.at/stirtoactionbookfest
Per session | £7 concessions | £10 standard
Event programme
Friday & Saturday 10am to 6:30pm | Conversations and Panels
Book signing in festival bookshop on Friday & Saturday after each session
Explore the programme at buytickets.at/stirtoactionbookfest
