Out-Spoken: October
TS Eliot prize-winner Joelle Taylor hosts an October edition of reliably remarkable spoken word and music, featuring Joe Carrick-Varty, Denise Saul and Jay Bernard.
Joe Carrick-Varty is a British-Irish poet, writer and founding editor of bath magg. His work has appeared in The New Statesman, Granta and POETRY. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 2022. His debut collection, More Sky, was published in January 2023.
Denise Saul is the author of two pamphlets: White Narcissi was Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice and House of Blue was PBS Pamphlet Recommendation. Saul is the recipient of the Poetry Society’s Geoffrey Dearmer Prize and a Fellow of The Complete Works. Her debut collection, The Room Between Us was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize, longlisted for the Jhalak Prize and was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation.
Jay Bernard is a writer and interdisciplinary artist whose work explores issues of queerness, race and archiving through a critical lens. Their short films, artwork and literary collections have been exhibited at film festivals and galleries around the UK, and they were the recipient of the 2020 Sunday Times / University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year Award, and the 2017 Ted Hughes Award.
Each month, Out-Spoken celebrates diversity in voice and performance with a stellar line-up of the hottest UK poets alongside a line-up of world-class musicians.
As ever, the night is hosted by Joelle Taylor, with Sam 'Junior' Bromfield spinning the best in reggae, soul and R&B throughout the evening.
Need to know
For ages 16+
This event is British Sign Language interpreted (BSL).
To book tickets for these services, call our Ticket Office on 020 3879 9555 or email [email protected]
You can join our free Access Scheme through your online Southbank Centre account or via email.
Find out more about our Access Scheme
All our Access & facilities information
Dates & times
Price
- Standard entryFrom £12*
- 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.
Multi-buy discount
London Literature Festival 2023
As part of our London Literature Festival multi-buy offer, book for two or more London Literature Festival events in the same transaction to receive a 20% discount.
Discounts apply to selected events. Look out for the multi-buy label to see which events are included.
Venue
Purcell Room
Our number one priority is the health and wellbeing of our visitors and staff.
Open 90 minutes before an event until the end of the event. Closed at all other times.
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.
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.
More information
Find out all you need to know about tickets, including concessions, group bookings, returns, credit vouchers and more, via the link below.
Get an overview of the seating layout of the Purcell Room by downloading our 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 and Purcell Room cloakroom is closed. You won’t be able to bring any bags over 40 x 25 x 25cm into the venues, so please leave large bags at home.
We're cash-free
Please note that we're unable to accept cash payments across our site.
Purcell Room is located in Queen Elizabeth Hall. For step-free access please use Royal Festival Hall JCB glass lift to Level 2 and enter via Riverside Terrace.
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.