Harry Styles was announced in February as the curator of this summer’s Meltdown Festival, a music event taking place in London in connection with the 75th anniversary of the city’s arts complex, the South Bank Centre. Now, the Centre has tapped another major British pop star to curate another event as part of the celebration.
Dua Lipa will curate this year’s London Literature Festival, which runs from Oct. 21 to Nov. 1. Dua founded her Service95 Book Club, an offshoot of her Service95 newsletter, in 2023 and since then has interviewed multiple authors about bestsellers, classics and more.
Dua says in a statement, “Reading has anchored me through every chapter of my life – from being the new kid at school in a new country to finding quiet refuge on tour. Curating the Southbank Centre’s London Literature Festival is a dream come true.”
She adds, “I can’t wait to dive into the imaginations of some of my favourite authors in one of London’s most iconic cultural spaces.”
Dua will be on hand for a “takeover” of the Royal Festival Hall at the South Bank Centre on Oct. 24 and 25, and she’s also creating a series of events across the festival with her book club team.
A book played an important role in Dua’s love life. When she and her now-fiancé Callum Turner met at a friend’s birthday party, they connected over the fact that were they reading the same book — Trust by Hernán Díaz — and had both just finished the first chapter. “I said, ‘So we’re on the same page,’” Callum told the Sunday Times of their meet-cute.
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