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It’s a big year for London. There’s the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics, and it’s about to get bigger still with the sixth annual London Literature Festival (part of the Festival of the World). Get your love of lit ready for this summer from 3 to 12 July at the Southbank Centre.
This year’s festival presents Capital Stories, an evening celebrating the festival’s urban scene with works by Stella Duffy, Alexei Sayle, Iain Sinclair, and Oscar Zarate as they delve into the reality of London’s back alleys and unknown corners. London: One Year On will feature a panel discussing the impact of the London riots and how those events have changed the city.
This talent rally will not only appeal to the young-at-heart but also to the actually young, as events will orbit around Shake the Dust, an all-weekend bash featuring the biggest youth poetry slam competition in the country. Come along to hear Saul Williams, high up there in the realm of the spoken word, and Kate Tempest, one of the UK’s top rap battlers who’s been spreading her rhythm all over the capital since the age of 16.
Finally, in conjunction with Africa Utopia, a month-long festival of music, film, theatre, dance, and fashion, the London Lit Fest hosts a plethora of writers and performers from Africa, highlighting both seasoned contributors and those just starting out in the literary world. Join the guaranteed crowds to hear Nuruddin Farah, Noo Saro-Wiwa, and Chika Unigwe, as well as five authors shortlisted for the 2012 Caine Prize read from their works. Africa Utopia’s host, Babaa Maal, and poet Lemn Sissay will work together with a host of other writers and poets to create a performance sure to make Africa proud.
Other guests include Siri Hustvedt, Tony Harrison, John Pilger, Clive Stafford Smith, Andy Kershaw, Will Self, and Mark Haddon, as well as children’s authors Michael Morpurgo and Andy Stanton.
Don’t miss the chance to witness the artistic brilliance of some of the world’s top names in literary history. This is bound to be another sparkly gem in London 2012’s crown of events.
Click here for more information and to book online.
About Shannon Evans
Shannon Evans, originally from Florida, moved to London in December 2011. Her idea of a perfect Friday evening involves a book and a cup of tea, and her favourite book of all time is Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis.
