The Southbank Centre announces its Summer 2023 Literature and Spoken Word Season taking place from June through to October. The season welcomes an unmissable line-up of authors, artists, economists, politicians and poets, featuring brand new fiction and non-fiction tackling topical issues including abuse of power, politics of race, modern masculinity and the impact of new technologies.
Ted Hodgkinson, Head of Literature & Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre, says: “This is a Summer programme filled with firsts, from fiery new talents to iconic authors breaking new ground. From Zadie Smith discussing her first foray into historical fiction and an electrifying evocation 1 of 1970s London from debut novelist Jacqueline Crooks, to giants of contemporary literature and spoken word Julian Barnes and Linton Kwesi Johnson, reflecting on their extraordinary writing lives. Alongside this exceptional array of world-renowned authors, we continue to present illuminating talks on pressing contemporary issues, exploring everything from modern masculinity to the abuse of power, with a line-up that encompasses Theresa May, Yanis Varoufakis, Caitlin Moran, Elliot Page and many more.”
The season runs alongside the previously announced Planet Summer programme which features the return of Poetry International festival and events with names including Greta Thunberg, Mark Carney, Mikaela Loach and Tori Tsui. Full details here. Full event listings are available here.
Celebrating New Fiction
Journalist and co-author of Slay In Your Lane, Yomi Adegoke (main) launches her debut novel The List in conversation with Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo. One of the UK and Europe’s finest, most beloved and admired writers Julian Barnes returns to the Southbank Centre for the first time in five years to reflect on his life in literature, as he discusses his book Elizabeth Finch, essays on art, meditations on mortality, the French belle epoch, Englishness and Europe. Novelists Guy Gunaratne and Stephen Buoro discuss their latest books, Mister, Mister and The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa in a special event in the Purcell Room. Jacqueline Crooks celebrates her original and enchanting debut novel Fire Rush, in a special event featuring conversation, dance, dub music, and extended readings from the book. Bestselling author Zadie Smith marks the publication of her first historical novel The Fraud in a very special intimate event in the Queen Elizabeth Hall foyer. In a London exclusive event, Colson Whitehead discusses Crook Manifesto, the highly-anticipated sequel to Harlem Shuffle.
Politics
Economist Yanis Varoufakis launches his new book Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism and explains how a technologically enhanced form of feudalism has usurped capitalism. Written in the form of a letter to his late father, who first taught him about the power of new technologies to shape human history, Varoufakis explains how Big Tech has affected an invisible but fundamental transformation in all our lives. Former Prime Minister and Home Secretary Theresa May discusses her book The Abuse of Power in the Royal Festival Hall. Described as a searing exposé of injustice and an impassioned call to exercise power for the greater good, The Abuse of Power draws on examples from domestic and international affairs she was personally involved in at the highest level, including Stop and Search and the Salisbury Poisonings. May argues for a radical rethink in how we approach our politics and public life.
Non-Fiction
Poet and cultural activist Linton Kwesi Johnson discusses his new book Time Come, bringing together his book and record reviews, lectures, obituaries and speeches, for the first time. Written over many decades, ranging across many topics, and venturing into memoir, Time Come is a body of work that creatively and critically explores the politics of race that continue to inform the Black British experience. Author, journalist, critic and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster Kate Molleson celebrates Sound Within Sound in a special evening which will include performances inspired by the composers 2 referenced in the book. Caitlin Moran returns to the Royal Festival Hall as she launches What About Men? After decades of rising male unhappiness, mental illness, loneliness, academic failure, and the online radicalisation of young men, Moran’s new book is the start of a new, urgent, but also often amusing conversation about masculinity and the challenges of being a man in today’s world. Actor, producer and director Elliot Page celebrates the publication of his ground-breaking new memoir Pageboy as he discusses life and love, trauma and Hollywood in what promises to be a memorable evening interrogating what it means to untangle ourselves from the expectations of others.
Poetry
The Southbank Centre’s resident music and poetry night Out-Spoken continues with its premier evening of poetry and live music in the Purcell Room. June’s line-up welcomes Sandeep Parmar, Richard Scott and Daniel Sluman, while July’s features Tishani Doshi, Rebecca Goss and Momtaza Mehri. Poets Kate Fox, Kathryn Bevis, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa and Jill Abram bust myths in Special Edition: You Can’t Be Autistic, You’re a Poet as they explore how their autism is integral to who they are. Part-poetry reading, part oral history insight, Tape Letters: a Translation Into Poetry welcomes Suna Afshan, who will read a selection of poems based on the award-winning Tape Letters project archive – a collection of cassette tapes containing intimate audio messages sent between families in Pakistan and the UK. In a special hybrid event, Where Else: International Hong Kong Poetry features contributors of Where Else: An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology edited by Jennifer Wong, Jason Eng Hun Lee, and Tim Tim Cheng. The event showcases the works of established and emerging poets with Hong Kong connections. Reading & Sounding explores text and sound through performances from Camilla Nelson, Nicola Woodham and Emmanuelle Waeckerlé, three artists and poets whose interdisciplinary practices involve sonic approaches to language. As part of Planet Summer, Poetry International festival returns for the first time since 2019 with ecopoetry, new commissions and collaborations. The line-up includes CAConrad, John Kinsella, Jorie Graham, Olive Senior and Yang Lian and the programme information can be found here.
Tickets are on sale at Southbank Centre www.southbankcentre.co.uk / 0203 879 9555
Photos Yomi Adegoke (Mollana Burke), Yanis Varoufakis (Matthew Lloyd), and Linton Kwesi Johnson (Ajamu Ikwe-Tyehimba) courtesy of Southbank Centre
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