Dua Lipa & Zadie Smith: White Teeth
In conversation with Dua Lipa, Zadie Smith discusses her extraordinary 2000 debut novel, White Teeth.
First published when Smith was just 24 years old, White Teeth became one of the most celebrated novels of the new millennium.
Dazzling in its scope and vision, it is a big-hearted story of the Joneses and the Iqbals, two immigrant families brought together by friendship, tangled histories and the London suburb of Willesden.
It’s big, funny and flashy, and it boldly announced Zadie Smith as a gifted young writer to look out for. A quarter of a century later, she is one of the most acclaimed authors of our time. But how does the legacy of her first published work sit with her today?
Smith and Lipa touch on the ambitious scope of the novel, what life in London might look like for the Joneses and the Iqbals in today’s political climate, and how one lives with one’s own artistic legacy when it is cemented at such a young age.
This conversation is recorded live for the Service95 Book Club podcast.
Need to know
You can buy an exclusive box package for this event. More details of our Royal Festival Hall exclusive box package.
There is a purchase limit of four tickets per person for this event.
Times & tickets
Dates, times and prices
Dates & times
24 Oct 2026, 3pm
Run time
1 hour and 15 minutes (approx)
All timings are approximate and subject to change
Standard entry
from £29
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Accessible events
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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.
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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.