Service95 and English PEN: Censorship Live!

Censorship Live! is at the Purcell Room on Saturday 31 October, part of the London Literature Festival. It's hosted by Oliver Bullough, who brings together journalists, writers and activists to read work that's been targeted, alongside the messages they've received about it — described as ranging from the absurd to the sinister. The readings come from Dean Atta, Catherine Belton, Fadi Itani and Monique Roffey, with Indira Varma reading among others.

After the readings, the conversation turns to the legal threats, lobby group pressure and state overreach that follow. The discussion covers limits on environmental activism, pressures on libraries and 'lawfare' from oligarchs. It's the kind of session that starts with a few specific texts and ends up looking at the wider machinery that tries to keep them quiet.

The whole thing sits within the Service95 Book Club, which Dua Lipa launched in 2023 as a home for literary culture, with her hand-picked Monthly Reads and exclusive author interviews. Lipa is the guest curator of the London Literature Festival this year, now in its 19th edition, and the festival coincides with the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary and the National Year of Reading. Censorship Live! reflects her own advocacy for access to books, including for readers affected by book bans and imprisonment.

It runs at 12pm in the Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX, and lasts about an hour and 15 minutes. Standard entry is from £17, with concessions available.