The Royal Festival Hall’s Level 2 foyer spaces are currently being refurbished, as we work to bring you a brand new cafe, bar, shop and Ticket Office. Find out more

An Evening with Rough Trade Books

Sat 27 Apr, 7.30pm
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Literature & poetry
From £15
book now
book now
Save
A man wears a brown suit with a blue shirt and blue polka dot tie, he has yellow lenses in his glasses and shoulder length grey hair. He stands in a park.
Tom Jamieson

The counter-cultural publishing house presents an evening of eclectic authors, artists and musicians, including Jarvis Cocker, Sheena Patel and Musa Okwonga.

Bringing together some of the most exciting talent in literature, music and art, this evening of culture curated by Rough Trade Books is a rare occasion to witness a multi-format celebration of independent writing and music.

The event features brand new animation work from Marcel Dzama, accompanied by live music and dance from dancer Francesca Thakorlal, as well as exciting new poetry from Sharan Hunjan, one of the 4 BROWN GIRLS WHO WRITE collective who shares work from her debut collection, Open Mouths.

Award-winning authors including Musa Okwonga and Salena Godden read from
their Rough Trade Books published works, before the all-conquering Sheena Patel gives a reading from I’m A Fan alongside a new visual and sonic artwork composed by Mark Leckey.

Jarvis Cocker talks us through the music that fed into his brilliant book Good Pop, Bad Pop while Richard Phoenix discusses his non-fiction debut Do Your Own Thing before introducing the band Electric Fire.

Craig Oldham’s In Loving Memory of Work is also presented with a miners’ strike film narrated by Maxine Peake and a musical score by Keeley Forsyth, accompanied by a live vocal performance from Gwenno and Women Against Pit Closures singers.

Expect surprises and entertainment throughout this evening to remember hosted by Lily Blacksell.

Need to know

Age recommendation

For ages 16+

Dates & times

Sat 27 Apr, 7.30pm
Approximate run time: 2 hours.
Run times may vary by up to 20 minutes as they can be affected by last-minute programme changes, intervals and encores.

Price

  • Standard entryFrom £15*
  • Concessions25%**


* Excludes £3.50 booking fee.

Book as early as you can to ensure the best choice of tickets. Ticket prices may be adjusted without notice to reflect demand.

** Limited availability. Read about concessions.

Tickets can only be sold through the Southbank Centre and our authorised agents, and can't be resold. You can return your tickets to the Southbank Centre for a credit voucher up to 48 hours before the event. Tickets resold on any third-party platforms will become invalid.

Get presale tickets

Members get the first chance to book our entire programme of events, including go-down-in-history gigs, concerts with world-class orchestras, and talks from cultural icons and political giants.

JOIN NOW

 

Venue

Queen Elizabeth Hall

Our number one priority is the health and wellbeing of our visitors and staff. 

Check here for our current guidance

The Queen Elizabeth Hall is open daily from 10am.

See the opening times for all our venues

Our address is: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. The nearest tube and train stations within 5-7 minutes walk are Waterloo (Northern, Bakerloo, Jubilee and Waterloo & City lines) and Embankment (District & Circle lines). There are also lots of bus routes with stops 2-5 minutes from our venues. For more information on getting here by road, rail or river.

Visit our Getting here page

Pre-booking online is recommended. Check our website on the day for returns. There’s no need to print your e-ticket – just show your phone to our Visitor Assistants on entry.

Some free events don't require a ticket. Found an event labelled FREE on our website with no way to book? Simply turn up on the day.

If you don't receive your e-ticket

Your e-ticket will be sent to you seven days before the event date from [email protected]. If you don't receive your e-ticket, and it's not in your junk or spam folder, please get in touch. 

Email us

More information

Find out all you need to know about tickets, including concessions, group bookings, returns, credit vouchers and more, via the link below.

Frequently asked questions

Get an overview of the seating layout of Queen Elizabeth Hall by downloading our seating plan.

Download seating plan

Toilets

An accessible toilet is located in the foyer.

A Changing Places toilet is located on Level 1 Royal Festival Hall next to the JCB Glass Lift, for the exclusive use of disabled people who need personal assistance to use the toilet.

The facility includes a height-adjustable bench, tracking hoist system, a centrally-placed toilet, a height-adjustable basin and a shower. The phone outside the Changing Places toilet will connect you with a member of staff, who can provide you with the key. The facility is open daily 10am – 11pm.

Cloakroom

The Queen Elizabeth Hall cloakroom is closed. You won’t be able to bring any bags over 40 x 25 x 25cm into the Queen Elizabeth Hall, so please leave large bags at home.

We're cash-free

Please note that we're unable to accept cash payments across our site. 

For step-free access from the Queen Elizabeth Hall Slip Road off Belvedere Road to the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium seating (excluding rows A to C) and wheelchair spaces in the Rear Stalls, plus Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer and the Purcell Room, please use the Queen Elizabeth Hall main entrance.

To reach this entrance, enter the Royal Festival Hall via the Southbank Centre Square Doors. Take the JCB Glass Lift to Level 2 and exit to the Riverside Terrace. Turn right to find the Queen Elizabeth Hall main entrance.

You can also use the external lift near the Artists' Entrance on Southbank Centre Square to reach Mandela Walk, Level 2. 

For access to the Queen Elizabeth Hall auditorium seating rows A to C and wheelchair spaces in the Front Stalls, please enter via the Artists' Entrance in the Queen Elizabeth Hall Slip Road (Level 1).

Talk to a member of staff at the auditorium entrance if you have a disability that means you can’t queue, or you need extra time to take your seat. They can arrange priority entry for you as soon as the doors open.

Please bear with us while we update our access map to reflect the refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall’s Level 2 foyer spaces. The step-free routes remain the same.

Download step-free access map

More about Access and facilities

From a snack with coffee to cocktails and fine dining, plus some of London's best street food – it's all here on the Southbank Centre site.

Where to eat & drink