A book swap has landed in a pop-up space at the Southbank Centre, inviting readers to leave a title behind and take a new one home. The exchange is running as part of the London Literature Festival, and encourages visitors to “Bring a book, Take a book, Pass it on.” The book swap runs from 21 October – 1 November.
Celebrity donations will be dropped in secretly across the swap, and famous faces who will be contributing include Dua Lipa, who is curating the festival with the Service95 Book Club, and authors Malorie Blackman, Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen, Elizabeth Day and Sadiq Khan, Self Esteem and Nish Kumar.
The area is fitted with seating, where attendees gather to browse the shelves and write personal messages for the next reader. Special stickers provided by the festival allow participants to stick a note inside the front cover, explaining why they recommend the story.
Personal recommendations
The shelves feature specific categories, including a designated section for Young Adult fiction. The current rotation of titles is highly varied, reflecting the diverse tastes of the festival crowd. Browsers can find recent fiction like The Dating Plan by Sara Desai, Witness by Jamel Brinkley, and Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead.
The collection also includes unexpected finds, like a vintage fifteenth edition Blue Peter annual!
The setup relies entirely on the participation of visitors to keep the shelves stocked throughout the festival.
London Literature Festival is the longest-running literature festival in the capital, and it celebrates authors old and new. Dua Lipa hosted three chats this past weekend, and the festival continues until 1 November with events running every day.
