Dua Lipa has spent the Southbank Centre’s 75th anniversary year curating the London Literature Festival, and this weekend she is on its stages herself. The festival runs from Wednesday, 21 October to Sunday, 1 November, and the programme comes from her Service95 Book Club. It pairs literary heavyweights with newer voices.
The opening weekend
Her own conversations are bunched at the start. She talks with Zadie Smith on Saturday, 24 October at 3pm, then with Mustafa at 8pm the same evening. Patti Smith joins her on Sunday, 25 October at 7.30pm. Photographs from the Mustafa session show Lipa on stage on 24 October.
The book club also fills out the calendar elsewhere. Nadia Murad appears in conversation on Thursday, 22 October, and a translated fiction showcase follows on Wednesday, 28 October. On Friday, 30 October the Fierce Sounds event puts Kae Tempest alongside a group of boundary-pushing novelists. Rewriting Male Tenderness takes place on Saturday, 31 October.
A free book swap
Not everything requires a ticket. A free book swap has been set up in the Royal Festival Hall for the week. People of all ages can talk about what they have read, pass on a recommendation and leave with something new. Lipa and other celebrity guests are adding a book of their own, each with a handwritten recommendation.
The curator’s view
Lipa said curating the line-up with her book club “has been a true joy” and that she is proud of the result. The guests, she said, include “icons as well as emerging voices from across the arts the world needs to know.” Some will be familiar from the book club; for others it may be a first introduction. Her aim, in her words, was a space that brings together “some of the most exciting writers, poets, and thinkers from around the globe.”
She also plans to spend time off stage. Lipa said she is looking forward to taking her seat in the audience at the venue.
Sources
- Dua Lipa Glows at the London Literature Festival in England, Plus Kim Kardashian and More
- Dua Lipa's London Literature Festival Programme kicking off this week
- Dua Lipa Glows at the London Literature Festival in England, Plus Kim Kardashian and More
Photo: Harald Krichel (CC BY-SA 4.0)
