This October, London’s Southbank Centre—aka London’s largest arts center—celebrates its 75th anniversary. The venue holds thousands of events each year in its mission to fuel creativity, push the arts, and offer new experiences for anyone curious in engaging with or challenging their creative side.
The anniversary will feature Dua Lipa’s London Literature Festival Program, which will run from Wednesday, October 21 to Sunday, November 1.
Speaking about her curation of the festival, Dua Lipa shares,
“Curating the lineup for the London Literature Festival with my Service95 Book Club has been a true joy, and I’m so proud of the program we have created. We’ll be joined by icons as well as emerging voices from across the arts the world needs to know. You will recognize some as friends of the book club, and others may be your first introduction, but ultimately, I wanted to create a space that brings together some of the most exciting writers, poets, and thinkers from around the globe. I’m looking forward to being both in-conversation and taking my seat in the audience at this iconic venue.”
For her curation of the festival, Dua Lipa will be in conversation with Zadie Smith, Mustafa, and Patti Smith.
The Zadie Smith discussion will take place on Saturday, October 24, at 3 p.m. Together, Dua Lipa and Zadie Smith will discuss Smith’s debut novel, White Teeth, which she published in 2000 when she was just 24 years old.
The Mustafa discussion will take place on Saturday, October 24, at 8 p.m. Here, the Sudanese-Canadian poet/singer/songwriter/filmmaker will talk about his poetry publication, NOUR, along with his lifelong relationship with poetry. Featured readings from various special guests will also take place.
The discussion with Patti Smith will occur on Sunday, October 25, at 7:30 p.m. Smith will discuss her latest memoir, Bread of Angels, which was published last year. She and Dua Lipa will also go over the healing power of art and the power of artistic freedom.
Aside from Dua Lipa’s discussions, a number of other events curated with her Service95 Book Club will take place. Included is a conversation with human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad on Thursday, October 22; a Translated Fiction Showcase on Wednesday, October 28; Fierce Sounds featuring Kae Tempest and boundary-pushing novelists on Friday, October 30; Rewriting Male Tenderness on Saturday, October 31; and prize-winning novelist/memoirist/filmmaker Xiaolu Guo will deliver the 2026 Statesman Goldsmiths Prize Lecture on the creation of fiction in the age of AI on Sunday, November 1.
Various events will also take place in association with Service95. Among them:
Ta-Nehisi Coates and Tareq Baconi will hold On Freedom on Wednesday, October 21. Here, they will examine Baconi’s new political treatise, What Now: On Palestine, Freedom, and our Global Future, along with the struggle for justice in Palestine, its global ramifications, and strategies for decolonization in the 21st century. The event is in association with Service95 and PalFest.
Best-selling author Hernan Diaz will hold a discussion on Wednesday, October 21.
Indie Night will take place on Friday, October 23, celebrating independent presses and the authors they publish.
Out-Spoken will occur on Friday, October 23, featuring an evening of poetry and live music that celebrates diversity in voice and performance. The line-up will include some of the hottest UK poets and world-class musicians out there, like Alice Oswald, Max Poerter, and Kwame Dawes.
Best-selling author Malorie Blackman will hold a discussion on Wednesday, October 28.
On Saturday, October 31, Service95 and English PEN join forces for an evening of readings, performances, and discussions hosted by award-winning journalist and author Oliver Bullough. The event will touch on the threats to free expression faced by writers, journalists, and the UK public, and will include an overview of how we can respond.
Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, shares,
“For 75 years, the Southbank Centre has been a place where emerging talent shares a space with global icons—a home for the writers, artists, and musicians who define their moment and the audiences who discover them here first. As we mark this anniversary, Dua’s dedication to sharing her love for books and her deep curiosity about the world is exactly the spirit this building was built on. It’s a milestone year, and she’s the perfect curator to help us celebrate it.”
Head of Literature & Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre, Ted Hodgkinson, also says,
“London Literature Festival has always been a celebration of the joys and pleasures of reading, and in Dua Lipa, we have a curator who embodies that completely. Her program reflects the full depth and breadth of her passion for books: from fierce new sensibilities pushing the boundaries of the form, to some of the most iconic writers at work today. This range and diversity reflects everything the Southbank Centre stands for, as we honor our roots and look ahead to the future.”
The London Literature Festival is a family program that has made world-class arts accessible to everyone, with 50% of its events each year free to access. More information about the festival, including the events taking place outside of Dua Lipa and Service95’s curation, can be found here. Further programs are TBA.
Tickets to the festival go on sale to Southbank Centre members on Monday, August 3, at 10 a.m. BST.
Tickets for Service95 members will go on sale Tuesday, August 4, at 10 a.m. BST.
Tickets for the general public go on sale Wednesday, August 5, at 10 a.m. BST.
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