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Showing results for
Literature & poetry

Overview Calendar

Thursday 29 October

The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Family
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Search for a Story
Children sitting on a giant quilt listening to stories under green and pink lighting

Search for a Story

Family
The Clore Ballroom
Free
The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Family
British Sign Language interpreted (BSL) - The performance includes a live interpreter who translates the show into British Sign Language.
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Lemn Sissay: Let the Light Pour In – Live
Lemn Sissay wearing a yellow jacket sitting on a chair.

Lemn Sissay: Let the Light Pour In – Live

Literature & poetry
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Book Now

Last few tickets

Tice Cin: Safe Spaces
British writer Tice Cin standing by a tree

Tice Cin: Safe Spaces

Literature & poetry
Purcell Room

Friday 30 October

The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Family
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Cardboard Citizens: The Meaning of Home
Three young children sit together at a table drawing with colorful markers and paper.

Cardboard Citizens: The Meaning of Home

Family
The Clore Ballroom
Free
Search for a Story
Children sitting on a giant quilt listening to stories under green and pink lighting

Search for a Story

Family
The Clore Ballroom
Free
The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Family
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Family
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Creative Future Writers' Award Showcase
An audience sits in a row, looking up at a stage and clapping under warm lighting at a literary event or convention.

Creative Future Writers' Award Showcase

Literature & poetry
Speech-to-Text transcribed - A transcribed performance shows live text of the dialogue and sound on screens.
Royal Festival Hall
Creative Future Writers' Award Showcase: Live Stream
Audience members chat and laugh in their seats during an intermission at a brightly lit indoor cultural event.

Creative Future Writers' Award Showcase: Live Stream

Literature & poetry
Speech-to-Text transcribed - A transcribed performance shows live text of the dialogue and sound on screens.
Online Events
Free
The Funny Business of Serious Literature
A man with salt-and-pepper facial hair and dark hair looks toward the camera with a gentle smile while sitting in a wheelchair near a coastal walkway with the sea in the background.

The Funny Business of Serious Literature

Literature & poetry
Purcell Room
Service95 Book Club: Fierce Sounds
Kae Tempest against a dark orange background

Service95 Book Club: Fierce Sounds

Literature & poetry
Speech-to-Text transcribed - A transcribed performance shows live text of the dialogue and sound on screens.
Queen Elizabeth Hall

Saturday 31 October

The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Family
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Search for a Story
Children sitting on a giant quilt listening to stories under green and pink lighting

Search for a Story

Family
The Clore Ballroom
Free
Service95 and English PEN: Censorship Live!
A man with blue eyes, a dark blazer, and a red patterned shirt sits with hands clasped, looking at the camera.

Service95 and English PEN: Censorship Live!

Literature & poetry
Purcell Room
The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Family
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Counterpoints Masterclass with Hisham Matar
A black-and-white photo of American-Libyan novelist and essayist Hisham Matar standing in a forest

Counterpoints Masterclass with Hisham Matar

Literature & poetry
Royal Festival Hall
Sold out
The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Family
British Sign Language interpreted (BSL) - The performance includes a live interpreter who translates the show into British Sign Language.
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Wasafiri: New Writing Prize 2026
Four panelists sit on a stage speaking into microphones before an audience, with large windows overlooking a city at night.

Wasafiri: New Writing Prize 2026

Literature & poetry
Royal Festival Hall
Service95 Book Club: Rewriting Male Tenderness
Author Caleb Azumah Nelson wearing an orange jumper standing in front of a tree

Service95 Book Club: Rewriting Male Tenderness

Literature & poetry
Purcell Room
Book Now

Last few tickets

Sunday 1 November

The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Family
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Search for a Story
Children sitting on a giant quilt listening to stories under green and pink lighting

Search for a Story

Family
The Clore Ballroom
Free
The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Family
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Goldsmiths Prize Shortlist Readings
Audience members seated in an auditorium chatting with the people around them

The Goldsmiths Prize Shortlist Readings

Literature & poetry
Purcell Room
The Goldsmiths Prize Shortlist Readings: Live Stream
An audience sits close together in a lecture hall or theater, looking attentively toward a speaker off-camera.

The Goldsmiths Prize Shortlist Readings: Live Stream

Literature & poetry
Online Events
Free
Xiaolu Guo: AI-esque
A three-quarter portrait of a smiling woman looking back over her shoulder, wearing a dark blazer and colorful earrings.

Xiaolu Guo: AI-esque

Literature & poetry
Purcell Room
Xiaolu Guo: AI-esque – Live Stream
A black and white close-up portrait of a woman looking over her shoulder, seated in front of large windows on a boat.

Xiaolu Guo: AI-esque – Live Stream

Literature & poetry
Online Events
Free
Hanif & Carlo Kureishi: Are You With Me Now?
A man with grey hair wearing a blue shirt in front of a white wall

Hanif & Carlo Kureishi: Are You With Me Now?

Literature & poetry
British Sign Language interpreted (BSL) - The performance includes a live interpreter who translates the show into British Sign Language. Speech-to-Text transcribed - A transcribed performance shows live text of the dialogue and sound on screens.
Queen Elizabeth Hall

Thursday 5 November

Kim Noble: How to Write
a man in a black blazer looking directly at the camera while a chaotic cluster of books and a roll of masking tape are bound tightly to his head and stuffed into his mouth using beige tape.

Kim Noble: How to Write

Literature & poetry
Purcell Room

Friday 5 March

Friday WOW Festival Day Pass
Speaker on stage in front of silhouetted audience.

Friday WOW Festival Day Pass

Talks & debates
Royal Festival Hall
Book Now

Last few tickets

Gisèle Pelicot & Tarana Burke in Conversation
A split image of a woman with a reddish bob in a blue shirt, and a woman speaking into a microphone.

Gisèle Pelicot & Tarana Burke in Conversation

Talks & debates
British Sign Language interpreted (BSL) - The performance includes a live interpreter who translates the show into British Sign Language. Speech-to-Text transcribed - A transcribed performance shows live text of the dialogue and sound on screens.
Royal Festival Hall

Saturday 6 March

Saturday WOW Festival Day Pass
An audience watches a panel discussion on an illuminated stage under colorful event lighting.

Saturday WOW Festival Day Pass

Talks & debates
Royal Festival Hall

Sunday 7 March

Sunday WOW Festival Day Pass
A speaker stands at a podium next to a sign language interpreter on a stage with a panel discussion.

Sunday WOW Festival Day Pass

Talks & debates
Royal Festival Hall
Book Now

Last few tickets

Saturday 3 April

Ira Glass: Stories for a Saturday Night
Ira Glass sitting at a table in front of a wood panelled wall.

Ira Glass: Stories for a Saturday Night

Literature & poetry
Royal Festival Hall

While you're with us

Jeppe Hein: Appearing Rooms
People enjoying the Jeppe Hein Fountain at the Southbank Centre

Jeppe Hein: Appearing Rooms

A summer favourite returns to our site with water fountains to splash around and cool down in.

Shopping
Wooden displays in the Southbank centre shop, featuring books, plushies, and colourful merchandise

Shopping

A vibrant range of inspiring books, homeware, prints, accessories and more.

Klaus Weber: Thinking Fountains
Two statues; a green human body with water spouting from its neck and another of human legs with water pouring down from above displayed outdoors

Thinking
Fountains

Water cascades and spouts over Klaus Weber’s bronze figures.

Modified Social Benches
Two children eating ice cream on a red cirrcular bench

Modified Social Benches

Benches that challenge the space and distance we place between one another.

William Pye's Zemran
A photograph showing Riverside Terrace at Southbank Centre, with the metal sculpture Zemran in the foreground, next to Queen Elizabeth Hall

William Pye's Zemran

Pye’s beautiful stainless steel sculpture sits overlooking the Thames.

Natura Nostra Forest
Bright sunlight bursts through green leaves with a lens flare, set against a blue sky and a textured concrete building.

Natura Nostra Forest

Our growing pocket forest creating a natural oasis.