Words In, Words Out: A Night in With Koestler Arts
Hear the voices of writers inside the criminal justice system at an evening of discussions and readings from Koestler’s anthology by contemporary poets.
A celebration of the power of literature, reading and writing in Britain’s criminal justice system.
For over 60 years, Koestler Arts has worked to encourage artistic self-expression and creative talent in prisons, secure units, detention centres and young offender institutions. Koestler’s annual arts awards attract thousands of entries across more than 50 categories every year, from painting to ceramics, fashion design to poetry, and song lyrics to screenplays.
The charity’s annual visual arts exhibition at the Southbank Centre has drawn curators including Speech Debelle, Jeremy Deller, Sarah Lucas, Grayson Perry, Ai Weiwei and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Join us to celebrate the launch of Koestler’s 2026 visual arts exhibition and to discuss the writing talent that’s to be found in secure settings. Hear from a panel of writers who work with people in the UK’s criminal justice system and campaigners who fight for civil liberties, rights and dignity on the inside.
We also bring the voices of writers inside the system to the ‘outside’, to the front of the stage, with readings from Koestler’s poetry anthologies – written by people in secure settings and performed by contemporary poets.
Presented in association with the Service95 Book Club.
Need to know
Times & tickets
Dates, times and prices
Dates & times
24 Oct 2026, 4pm
Run time
1 hour and 15 minutes (approx)
All timings are approximate and subject to change
Standard entry
from £18
Ticket prices may be adjusted without notice to reflect demand.
Concessions
Learn more about concession discounts
Refunds and exchanges
Find out more about our refund and exchange policy
Become a Member
Members get free entry to the Hayward Gallery and 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 today from £60
For your visit
This event is held at the Royal Festival Hall Southbank Centre
The Royal Festival Hall is open six days a week.
Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 11pm
Monday, closed.
Plan your visit
The Royal Festival Hall is home to our largest auditorium as well as The Clore Ballroom, National Poetry Library, Members’ Lounge, Festival Bar & Kitchen, Ballroom Cafe and Skylon restaurant.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
On Level 2 of our Royal Festival Hall you can grab a slice of life by the Thames with drinks and freshly made pizza at our Festival Bar & Kitchen which opens out onto our Riverside Terrace. You can grab a coffee and a slice of freshly made cake from our Ballroom Cafe. Or alternatively enjoy destination dining in the restaurant at Skylon.
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.