London Literature Festival 2026 at the Southbank Centre
Translated fiction, a novel turned into performance and the winners of a national writing award: three evenings of the festival curated this year by Dua Lipa and the Service95 Book Club.
Photo: Maria Bregman, Creativity's UK.
The London Literature Festival, which the Southbank Centre calls the longest-running celebration of the written and spoken word of its kind in the capital, filled the South Bank again this autumn. This year's programme was curated by Dua Lipa and her Service95 Book Club, inside the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary year. Maria Bregman of Creativity's UK attended three evenings in a row; her full reviews are linked below.
Wednesday 28 October: translated fiction
In the Purcell Room, Hope Ndaba hosted Samanta Schweblin, Nelio Biedermann, Gaël Faye and Intan Paramaditha for the Service95 Book Club: Translated Fiction Showcase. The authors read from their books and spent much of the evening talking about the translators who carry their work into English. Gaël Faye spoke in French through an interpreter and thanked his translator, Sarah Ardizzone, who was in the audience. Read the full review of the Translated Fiction Showcase on Creativity's UK.
Thursday 29 October: Tice Cin, Safe Spaces
The next evening, in the same room, Tice Cin presented her new Granta novel Safe Spaces as a performance of monologues, projections, music and sound design, with text projected across the walls of the hall. Read the review of the festival week on Creativity's UK.
Friday 30 October: Creative Future Writers' Award Showcase
The week closed in the Level 5 Function Room of the Royal Festival Hall, where the winners of the Creative Future Writers' Award read their work. The judges Nancy Campbell, Courttia Newland and Kieran Yates hosted, and the winners' anthology made its debut. This year's theme was Material, and more than 1,850 writers entered. Read the full review of the showcase on Creativity's UK.
What comes next
A creative writing masterclass with the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hisham Matar, presented with Counterpoints Arts and the Service95 Book Club, takes place at the Royal Festival Hall on Saturday 28 November and is already sold out. The London Literature Festival returns in October 2027.
Read the full reviews
- London Literature Festival 2026 on the South Bank (Creativity's UK)
- Novelists on Translation at the London Literature Festival 2026 (Creativity's UK)
- Creative Future Writers' Award Showcase 2026 (Creativity's UK)
- London Literature Festival 2023 (ArtCulture)
- What to see at this year's London Literature Festival (Service95)
Frequently asked questions
When does the London Literature Festival return?
The Southbank Centre lists the next London Literature Festival for October 2027.
Who curated the 2026 festival?
Dua Lipa and the Service95 Book Club curated the 2026 London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre.
London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre
This is an independent informational guide compiled by the London BGTC Society for its members; we are not the organiser of the festival. All official information lives on the organiser's website. Details are subject to change; always confirm before making plans.
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