Soutbank Centre Spring Literature Festival

Every year the Southbank Centre pays tribute to the written word with Spring Literature Festival featuring famous writers from all around the globe. 2019 brings eclectic programme of talks, readings, courses and exhibitions takes over the 17-acre site from January right through March.

'We start the year as we mean to go on,' says Ted Hodgkinson, Head of Literature and Spoken Word at Southbank Centre, 'by pushing the boundaries of literature with an innovative Spring 2019 Literature Season featuring new initiatives, world exclusive events, cross-artform performances and a stellar line-up of award-winning international writers and poets'

The diversity of events means there is something to suit every kind of bookworm, whether you're passionate about the construction of poetic spaces or learning the tools to write a short story. But we've rounded up the three starriest and most likely to sellout talks.

Leïla Slimani: talk

4 February 2019, 7:15pm, Purcell Room, £15

French author Leïla Slimani had us squirming right through to the last page of Lullaby, her thrilling debut novel about a murderous nanny. And her new book Adèle is set to be just as darkly provocative, as it shows a successful woman with an increasingly destructive and dangerous sex addiction. Ahead of the UK publication, Slimani gives an exclusive talk at the Southbank Centre on the relationship between her compelling narratives and the reality of life in contemporary France.

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Marlon James: talk

25 February 2019, 7:30pm, Queen Elizabeth Hall, £15-£25)

Man Booker winner writer Marlon James introduces a bold new trilogy exploring African history and mythology. After the success of A Brief History of Seven Killings, James has become a vital voice on issues of race and identity in fiction. He comes to the Southbank to share insights about the first book in the series, Black Leopard, Red Wolf, and to reflect more broadly on the inspiration behind his fiction.

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Max Porter: live reading from new novel

28 February 2019, 7:30pm, Purcell Room, £15

Max Porter's debut novel Grief is a Thing with Feathers may be a slim, slip of a book, but it certainly packs a punch. The story a widowed father negotiating parenthood in the midst of mourning is at once potent, poetic and utterly human. As the stage version of Grief is a Thing with Feathers starring Cillian Murphy comes to the Barbican Centre, Porter is looking ahead to his hotly-anticipated second novel. Lanny tells the story of an English village where myth and reality merge through past and present. At this world exclusive reading, a cast of actors will voice the different villagers and bring Lanny to life.

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