The UK’s First Literary Festival Dedicated Entirely to Wellbeing Books
A one-day celebration of books focusing on self-development, mental health and emotional wellbeing, and their authors.
Saturday 3rd October, Abergavenny, Wales, UK
Tickets Coming Soon
What is Better Read Book Fest?
Literary festivals may include books on mental health and self-development, and wellbeing festivals can feature wellbeing authors alongside workshops and practical experiences.
But until now there hasn’t been a UK literary festival dedicated solely to books focused on personal development, mental health and emotional wellbeing, and their authors.
No workshops, no other genres, purely authors sharing their books, their experience, research and expertise with readers.
These books provide validation, greater self-understanding and practical tools, empowering the reader where they’ve felt lost and alone, in an accessible form and price.
Better Read Book Fest provides a unique opportunity to champion and celebrate the transformative power of wellbeing books and to connect their authors and readers, in an inspiring and uplifting event.
Suzy Reading
Author of How to be Selfish
Suzy is a Chartered Psychologist and one of the UK’s leading self-care and self-advocacy experts. She has three decades of experience in the health and wellbeing industry, drawing on her qualifications in yoga and personal training, together with psychology, to empower people with sustainable healthy lifestyle habits. Suzy has a special interest in helping people heal their relationship with ‘self’.
She is a monthly columnist for Top Sante Magazine and the author of The Little Book of Self-Care, The Self-Care Revolution, Stand Tall Like a Mountain, Self-care for Tough Times, This Book Will (Help) Make You Happy, And Breathe, Sit to Get Fit, Rest to Reset and Self-care for Winter.
www.suzyreading.co.uk
www.instagram.com/suzyreading/
https://smarturl.it/howtobeselfish
How to be Selfish
Natalie Lue
Author of The Joy of Saying No
Natalie is the writer of one of the longest running self-help blogs in the world, Baggage Reclaim, and host of The Baggage Reclaim Sessions podcast. The England-born, Ireland-raised author and artist is well-known for helping people with emotional unavailability, recognising shady behaviour, people pleasing, and values, needs and boundaries.
She has spoken on BBC Radio and ITV’s Lorraine and her advice has been featured in the New York Times, Forbes, NPR, USA Today, and many others. Natalie has written five more books – Mr Unavailable and the Fallback Girl, The No Contact Rule, The Dreamer and the Fantasy Relationship, Let Go and Love, Care, Trust and Respect.
www.baggagereclaim.com
www.natalielue.com
www.instagram.com/natlue
The Joy of Saying No
Dr Helen Wall
Author of Menopause and ADHD
Helen is an NHS GP and her informative, supportive and compassionate social media posts make her the go-to expert for midlife women with suspected or diagnosed ADHD.
Helen is a resident GP on BBC Breakfast and Morning Live, has spoken on Channel 4 News, BBC Radio, Al Jazeera News and many other media outlets. She’s a columnist for Woman magazine and has been featured in Stylist, Woman & Home, The Independent and other publications.
Menopause and ADHD will be published May 2026.
https://drhelenwall.com
https://www.instagram.com/doctorhelenwall
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579042582916
Menopause and ADHD
Natasha Page
Author of Believe You're Made for More
Natasha is a highly respected psychotherapist, self-development and business coach with over a decade of experience helping individuals transform their lives. She has spoken on BBC Radio, ITV News and the BBC, is an agony aunt for Pick Me Up magazine and has been featured in publications including The Guardian and Psychologies. She is also a media spokesperson for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
https://www.natashapagemsc.com
@natashapagemsc on social media
Believe You're Made for More
What can I expect?
- Interviews and panel discussions with the authors about their books, self-development, mental health and emotional wellbeing
- Each author session will last one hour including time to ask questions, with breaks of 30 minutes between sessions and a 75 minute lunch break in the middle of the day.
- The opportunity to purchase the authors’ books and have them signed by the authors. Festival merchandise will also be on sale
- A raffle to win prizes and raise money for Mind in Gwent, the local branch of Mind mental health charity
- Tea, coffee and cold drinks will be available at the venue throughout the day and we encourage you to visit one of the many eateries in Abergavenny during the lunch break
- A warm and welcoming atmosphere where you’ll leave feeling inspired and uplifted
Who is the Festival for?
- Readers interested in self-development, mental health and emotional wellbeing
- Coaches, therapists and wellbeing practitioners
- If you want to learn more about how you can support your own mental and emotional wellbeing this is for you
Where is the Festival?
Better Read Book Fest is taking place at St Mary’s Priory Hall, Monk St, Abergavenny NP7 5ND, Wales, on Saturday 3 October from 9.30am to 6.30pm.
Abergavenny is an attractive market town in south Wales, close to the border with England. The venue is 15 minutes walk from the railway station and Abergavenny is 30 minutes car journey from the M4 Jct 25. There is a car park at the venue and a very large public car park is eight minutes walk away.
Is the venue accessible?
St Mary’s Priory Hall is step-free for all of the ground floor and everything apart from the Festival Bookshop is on the ground floor. The Festival Bookshop where the book signings will take place is on the first floor and this can be reached by either a spiral staircase or via a stair chair lift. We ask wheelchair users who will be unable to use the stair chair lift to contact us in advance so arrangements can be made for access to the shop and author signings.
Support dogs are welcome at the venue (a limited number can be accommodated), please let us know in advance if you plan to bring your support dog with you.
All speakers will use microphones and if you require a BSL interpreter or have any other accessibility needs please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
Each author session will be one hour long with breaks of 30 minutes between sessions and a 75 minute lunch break in the middle of the day. Tea, coffee and cold drinks will be available throughout the day. There is a large courtyard area outside the Hall with seating where you can take a break any time you choose.
The schedule for the day will be posted here when tickets go on sale.
We want you to feel as comfortable as possible at Better Read Book Fest so do get in touch if you have any questions or requests by emailing [email protected].
Tickets
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Festival Supporters
About the Festival Founder
Gabrielle Treanor, coach, podcaster and wellbeing author is the driving force behind Better Read Book Fest.
When Gabrielle was struggling with anxiety, people-pleasing, overthinking and overwhelm (which she later discovered was due in part to her unrecognised ADHD) it was picking a book on positive psychology off the shelf in her local bookstore, and subsequently diving headfirst into wellbeing books, that gave her a sense of agency. In these books she found explanation and understanding as well as ideas and tools to support herself.
Gabrielle then embarked on a journey which ultimately led to writing her own book, The 1% Wellness Experiment (published Dec 2023), and supporting others as an ADHD coach, writer and podcaster.
Gabrielle’s respect and appreciation for the writers who pour their knowledge, skills, experience and heart into their wellbeing books inspired her to champion and celebrate this genre by creating Better Read Book Fest.
Gabrielle has also written for and featured in a range of publications including The Guardian, Psychologies and Red magazine, as well as speaking at wellbeing events and on podcasts. She has an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology and hosts the Pressing Pause podcast.