London Today London Literature Festival 2026, curated by Dua Lipa
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX, London · Organised by Southbank Centre
Programme and tickets Add to calendar
- Dates
- 20 Oct 2026 – 1 Nov 2026
- Format
- In person
- Organiser
- Southbank Centre
The Southbank Centre handed its literature festival to a pop star this year, and she has spent it interviewing her own heroes. Dua Lipa, who founded the Service95 Book Club, curates the 2026 London Literature Festival, and sits on stage herself for three of its biggest evenings.
Dates
The festival runs from Tuesday 20 October to Sunday 1 November 2026 across the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room.
Dua Lipa's conversations
She talks to Zadie Smith about White Teeth and to the poet Mustafa about Nour on Saturday 24 October, and to Patti Smith about her memoir Bread of Angels on Sunday 25 October.
The rest of the week
Michael Douglas brings his memoir One Helluva Ride on 28 October, the same night Malorie Blackman marks 25 years of Noughts & Crosses. V. E. Schwab closes her Villains series on 25 October, and Poems on the Underground turns forty with an evening of poetry and music on the 24th.
Free
A book swap runs in the Royal Festival Hall from 24 October to 1 November, and there are free drop-in family activities from 29 October. Several workshops and live streams are free as well; the ticketed talks are priced event by event.
Programme
- Sat 24 Oct, 3pm
- Dua Lipa & Zadie Smith: White Teeth, Royal Festival Hall.
- Sat 24 Oct, 8pm
- Dua Lipa & Mustafa: Nour, Royal Festival Hall.
- Sun 25 Oct, 7.30pm
- Dua Lipa & Patti Smith: Bread of Angels, Royal Festival Hall.
- Sun 25 Oct, 7.30pm
- V. E. Schwab: Victorious, Queen Elizabeth Hall.
- Wed 28 Oct, 7.30pm
- Michael Douglas: One Helluva Ride, Royal Festival Hall.
- Wed 28 Oct, 8pm
- Malorie Blackman: Noughts & Crosses at 25, Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX on the map
London Literature Festival 2026, curated by Dua Lipa: questions
When is the London Literature Festival 2026?
20 October to 1 November 2026, at the Southbank Centre.
Who is curating it?
Dua Lipa, the founder of the Service95 Book Club. She interviews Zadie Smith, Mustafa and Patti Smith herself.
Is anything free?
Yes: the book swap in the Royal Festival Hall, family drop-ins and several workshops and live streams. The headline talks are ticketed.
Source: Southbank Centre checked against the source
