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October is a huge month for culture in the capital. Hot on the heels of the London Film Festival, Frieze London, London Cocktail Week and a whole bunch of theatre and gallery openings, it’s time for the city’s literary scene to take centre stage.
London Literature Festival arrives at the Southbank Centre this week, with 13 days of talks, readings, workshops, screenings, performances and award ceremonies celebrating the written and spoken word. Both rising stars and literary titans appear on a stacked line-up co-curated by Rebecca Lucy Taylor, AKA Self Esteem.
The BRIT Award-nominated singer (and former Time Out cover star) will be taking over the venue on Saturday November 1, appearing in conversation with Dolly Alderton to discuss her new book, A Complicated Woman, before hosting a Saturday night music and spoken word variety show featuring some of her writers and performers, including Travis Alabanza, Tom Rasmussen and Pam Ayres.
So celebrate the festival’s arrival this week, we asked the pop star, her line-up and a few names from the wider festival programme to tell us which one book they would take to a desert island.
Rebecca Lucy Taylor, AKA Self Esteem
‘I wish I could remember who suggested I read Women Who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés. I was about 30 and so very angry, and this was the first time I read that my anger was perfectly reasonable. Not only was it reasonable, it was NATURAL. Were I on a desert island I think that re-reading a book that compounds that all the answers are within me would be a good use of my time. I’d also probably finally have the time and space to do some healing, and this book is a great bit of kit for that too.’
Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem is curator of this year’s London Literature Festival and appears in conversation with Dolly Alderton at ‘Self Esteem: A Complicated Woman’, and alongside a line-up of invited guests for ‘Self Esteem Presents’, both on Sat 1 Nov. Free events will take place throughout the day.
Marged Siôn
‘I was gifted Undrowned by Alexis Pauline Gumbs by a very dear friend of mine. It’s a collection of meditations based on Black feminist lessons from marine mammals. It’s the most beautiful, thorough and divine collection of research that is a guidebook on how to learn from the resilience and submerged wisdom of aquatic life. I’ve always had a deep affinity for the ocean. This book is everything!’
Marged Siôn joins Rebecca Lucy Taylor for ‘Self Esteem Presents’.
Seraphina Simone
‘I’d take the complete works of William Blake! At primary school we sang some poems from Songs of Innocence & Experience, then I did a deep-dive into him reading English Literature at Oxford - his work is so varied. He’s a fascinating, complex creature - a mystic, artist, visionary genius, suffering bouts of psychosis and hallucination. There’s such rich symbolism, mysticism, mythology AND gorgeous art that I don’t think I’d ever get bored.’
Seraphina Simone also joins Rebecca Lucy Taylor for ‘Self Esteem Presents’.
Tom Rasmussen
‘I am going to break the rule and choose three because I literally can’t choose one. And why should I? So my case will sink my raft? I’ll swim ashore! James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room because it’s beautiful and bleak and gay, much like the first few months on the island might be. Fifty Visions of Kate Bush by Tom Doyle because it is my creative bible. And Diary of a Drag Queen by me, because while I find it a little cringe to read my writing from a decade ago, it would be wonderful to take all those memories with me for when the island gets lonely.’
Tom Rasmussen also joins Rebecca Lucy Taylor for‘Self Esteem Presents’.
Pam Ayres
‘I’d choose Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens to take to my desert island. I really love this atmospheric book for its descriptions of the creatures inhabiting the marshes of North Carolina. These, combined with a love story and a murder amid the swamps, make it a great favourite of mine. I thought the ending was perfect, not the damp squib I always fear, and I felt that Delia Owens was so well informed about the wildlife of the area that I learned something, as well as being charmed and intrigued by the story.’
Pam Ayres also joins Rebecca Lucy Taylor for ‘Self Esteem Presents’.
Travis Alabanza
‘Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I've read this book so many times and each time I find a new world or imagination within it. If I was stuck on an island, you need a book that you can return to, and Butler's imagery feels endless.’
Travis Alabanza also joins Rebecca Lucy Taylor for ‘Self Esteem Presents’.
Bora Chung
‘The Doll by Boleslaw Prus. This is a very well-known novel from the Polish Positivist era. It can be read as a tragic love story, an in-depth observation of Polish society in the nineteenth century under Russian rule, and a study in misunderstanding and miscommunication. And, to be honest, I recently saw a meme where the protagonist Wokulski gives a Labubu doll as a gift to Izabela, the heroine, and I couldn't stop laughing. I love it.’
Bora Chung will discuss her new novel ‘The Midnight Timetable’ on Thu 23 Oct.
Simon Armitage
‘One book. That’s a bit stingy, isn’t it? How big is this desert island and how long am I staying there? Is there a library? WiFi? Can I remember how to read or was I concussed during the fall from the aeroplane, or maybe I bashed my head on a rock while being washed ashore. Will the book be safe against wet weather and insect infestation or should I choose something laminated? Will I have a pen or pencil with me to doodle and sketch and make notes – if so I’d like something with not much text and wide empty margins. Not Robinson Crusoe.’
The former poet laureate hosts ‘An Afternoon with Simon Armitage’ on Sat 25 Oct and later joins fellow poets Jackie Kay and Michael Rosen for Out-Spoken on Sat 25 Oct.
Lisa Smith
‘While there are only a handful of novels I ever re-read, I come back to poetry again and again, especially Maya Angelou’s And Still I Rise. Love, identity, history, belonging, in fact almost everything is explored in this slim collection. The tone shifts from exuberant and defiant to playful and sassy. These poems never get stale! Angelou would be the perfect desert island companion as I waited for rescue.’
Lisa Smith will join the panel of new writers at Debut London Literature on Sun 26 Oct.
Funmi Fetto
‘If I were to be stranded on a desert island, I’d want the Book of Psalms with me. It’s beautifully written - powerful poetry and prayer in one. The Psalms speak to every human mood: despair, hope, joy, fear... They lift the spirit and feed the mind, reminding you that even in solitude you’re never truly alone. And somehow, no matter how often you read them, they offer fresh revelation every time.’
Funmi Fetto will also join the panel at Debut London Literature.
Sebastian Faulks
‘Great Expectations by Charles Dickens has it all. Love, crime, character, violence, sweetness, arson and a heart-churning, page-shredding story. A child can read it for fun. A scholar can examine its dazzling narrative switches and minute social analysis. You are a wreck when you finish. Enjoy!’
Sebastian Faulks will discuss his new novel ‘Fire Which Burned Brightly’ on Wed 29 Oct.
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