The Royal Festival Hall is closed to the public on Sunday 12 May.

Passage: New Writing on Displacement and Migration

PAST EVENT
Fri 24 Jun 2022, 7.45pm
Part of Refugee Week
Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall
Talks & debates
From £5
past event
past event
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Portrait of author Christy Lefteri against a plain grey background. She has her hair tied back with some loose curls at the front. and is wearing purple feathers as earrings.
Kieran Coatman by Venture Studios

Hear from fresh new writers and established authors as they discuss their work on the themes of displacement and migration.

This event features a line-up of artists and writers at the forefront of driving social change through their storytelling.

Chaired by Christy Lefteri. Brought up in London, Lefteri is the child of Cypriot refugees. Her novel, The Beekeeper of Aleppo, has sold well over a million copies worldwide, and won The Aspen Literary Prize and the Prix de l'Union Interalliée. Songbirds is her bestselling second novel.

Helen Benedict, British American novelist and journalist, is best known for her writings on war and social injustice. Her new non-fiction book, Map of Hope and Sorrow, co-authored with Syrian writer, Eyad Awwadawnan, released in June 2022, tells the stories of today's refugees trapped in Greece.

Ania Bas grew up in Poland and moved to the UK over 15 years ago to pursue her career in the arts. She has worked with the Tate, the Whitechapel Gallery, Eastside Projects and others as an artist and arts organiser. She graduated from the Faber Academy in 2018. Odd Hours, her first novel, offers a rare and timely look at the life of a young Polish-Irish woman living in London.

This event is also in collaboration with Footnote. Launching in spring 2022, Footnote is a disruptive new publisher focusing on migration, identity and marginalised knowledge and experience.

Need to know

Age recommendation

For ages 16+

Dates & times

Fri 24 Jun 2022, 7.45pm
Approximate run time: 1 hour 30 mins.
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 £5*
  • 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.

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Venue

Purcell Room

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

Check here for our current guidance

Open 90 minutes before an event until the end of the event. Closed at all other times.

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. 

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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 the Purcell Room 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. Please visit the Welcome Desk on Level 2, Royal Festival Hall, where a member of staff can provide you with the key. You can also use the phone next to the Changing Places toilet to speak to a member of staff. 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.

Download step-free access map

More about Access & facilities