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Showing results for
Literature & poetry

Overview Calendar
More info for Service95 Book Club: Fierce Sounds
Kae Tempest against a dark orange background
Literature & poetry

Service95 Book Club: Fierce Sounds

A stellar line-up of writers makes fiction feel alive, discussing rhythm, form and sound in writing
Queen Elizabeth Hall
More info for 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.
Literature & poetry

Service95 and English PEN: Censorship Live!

Readings, real-life stories and expert discussion confronting rising threats to written expression
Purcell Room
More info for Counterpoints Masterclass with Hisham Matar
A black-and-white photo of American-Libyan novelist and essayist Hisham Matar standing in a forest
Literature & poetry

Counterpoints Masterclass with Hisham Matar

Refine your creative writing in this two-hour masterclass with the Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Royal Festival Hall
More info for 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.
Literature & poetry

Wasafiri: New Writing Prize 2026

Join the magazine of international contemporary writing as they announce their prize winners
Royal Festival Hall
More info for Service95 Book Club: Rewriting Male Tenderness
Author Caleb Azumah Nelson wearing an orange jumper standing in front of a tree
Literature & poetry

Service95 Book Club: Rewriting Male Tenderness

A life-affirming conversation with writers about masculinity, vulnerability and tenderness
Purcell Room
More info for The Goldsmiths Prize Shortlist Readings
Audience members seated in an auditorium chatting with the people around them
Literature & poetry

The Goldsmiths Prize Shortlist Readings

Join the six authors shortlisted for this year’s prize as they read from and discuss their novels
Purcell Room
More info for 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.
Literature & poetry

The Goldsmiths Prize Shortlist Readings: Live Stream

Join online as the six authors shortlisted for this year’s prize read from and discuss their novels
Online Events
Tickets Free
More info for Xiaolu Guo: AI-esque
A three-quarter portrait of a smiling woman looking back over her shoulder, wearing a dark blazer and colorful earrings.
Literature & poetry

Xiaolu Guo: AI-esque

The writer delivers the 2026 New Statesman/Goldsmiths Prize Lecture, on fiction in the age of AI
Purcell Room
More info for 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.
Literature & poetry

Xiaolu Guo: AI-esque – Live Stream

Join online for the writer’s 2026 New Statesman/Goldsmiths Prize Lecture, on fiction in the age of AI
Online Events
Tickets Free
More info for 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.
Literature & poetry

Kim Noble: How to Write

A witty lecture about the comedic artist’s new book with writing advice from the greats and his mum
Purcell Room
More info for Friday WOW Festival Day Pass
Speaker on stage in front of silhouetted audience.
Talks & debates

Friday WOW Festival Day Pass

Be here for the first day of this year’s festival celebrating women, girls and non-binary people
Royal Festival Hall
More info for 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.
Talks & debates

Gisèle Pelicot & Tarana Burke in Conversation

Come together for a landmark event on justice, testimony, survival and what comes next
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.