Skip to main content

The Royal Festival Hall is closed to the public on Tuesday 16 June. It will reopen for Harry Styles & Jules Buckley Orchestra ticket holders only at 5pm.

What’s on

Filter events

Filter by date

Choose a timeframe
Today Tomorrow This week Next week This weekend
Or choose dates
Insert start date as dd/mm/yyyy or click on date picker to choose a start date
Insert end date as dd/mm/yyyy or click on date picker to choose an end date

Or filter by type

Accessible events Art & exhibitions Classical music Comedy Courses & workshops Family Gigs Literature & poetry Online Performance & dance Talks & debates Tours & activities Young people
Our festivals & series Free events Accessible events
Accessible events
Clear filters

Showing results for
Literature & poetry

Overview Calendar
More info for The 2026 Forward Prizes for Poetry Ceremony
Five smiling award winners stand in a row holding blue booklets against a black, yellow, and blue curtain backdrop.
Literature & poetry

The 2026 Forward Prizes for Poetry Ceremony

Join us for live readings and experience the best poetry published in the UK and Ireland this year
Queen Elizabeth Hall
More info for Dua Lipa & Patti Smith: Bread of Angels
A black and white portrait of Patti Smith raising her hand with palm facing out, leaning against a wooden fence.
Literature & poetry

Dua Lipa & Patti Smith: Bread of Angels

Chart the life of the legendary musician and writer as she discusses her memoir with Dua Lipa
Royal Festival Hall
More info for Out-Spoken Masterclass: October
Group of people sat around a long table all writing onto paper
Literature & poetry

Out-Spoken Masterclass: October

Get your ideas flowing at a three-hour workshop giving you the chance to learn from leading poets
Royal Festival Hall
More info for Dua Lipa & Mustafa: Nour
A black and white close-up portrait of a man looking over his shoulder while seated inside a vehicle, gripping a backpack strap.
Literature & poetry

Dua Lipa & Mustafa: Nour

Poetry that moves us is central to Mustafa’s collection Nour, and to this discussion with Dua Lipa
Royal Festival Hall
More info for The Smeds and the Smoos
A colorful children's illustration of a red alien and a blue alien holding hands on a desert planet under a huge moon.

The Smeds and the Smoos

Star-crossed aliens, magical music and cosmic laughs in a stellar stage adaptation of a beloved book
Queen Elizabeth Hall
More info for Service95 Book Club: Translated Fiction Showcase
A woman with long wavy dark hair sits thoughtfully with her fist under her chin against a warm brown background.
Literature & poetry

Service95 Book Club: Translated Fiction Showcase

Cross borders with some of today’s most vital fiction in translation, read by the authors themselves
Purcell Room
More info for Malorie Blackman: Noughts & Crosses at 25
Portrait of author Malorie Blackman. She sits in a garden wearing a patterned blue top and a lace cover up.
Literature & poetry

Malorie Blackman: Noughts & Crosses at 25

Celebrate the legacy of this bestselling YA novel with reflections from the author and special guests
Queen Elizabeth Hall
More info for Lemn Sissay: Let the Light Pour In – Live
Lemn Sissay wearing a yellow jacket sitting on a chair.
Literature & poetry

Lemn Sissay: Let the Light Pour In – Live

Author, activist and performer Lemn Sissay unravels his poems in a night filled with hope and light
Queen Elizabeth Hall
More info for Tice Cin: Safe Spaces
Musicians collaborate in a sunlit music studio crowded with synthesizers, a vocal mic, and audio production software.
Literature & poetry

Tice Cin: Safe Spaces

Enter the world of the extraordinary new novel Safe Spaces in a multi-art form event
Purcell Room
More info for Creative Future Writers' Award Showcase
Audience members applauding
Literature & poetry

Creative Future Writers' Award Showcase

Find your next read at this year’s award showcase of under-represented writers
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 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

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.