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Dua Lipa Is Opening Her Own Library
Dua Lipa’s literary ambitions are continuing to expand beyond the page. After championing contemporary authors through her Service95 Book Club and helping bring literary conversation into the pop culture mainstream, the singer has now unveiled the first permanent physical home for that mission: the Manifesto Library, a new collection dedicated to books that challenge authority, censorship and dominant narratives.
The Manifesto Library, created in partnership with Portugal’s historic Livraria Lello bookshop, will officially open tomorrow (June 27) in Porto as part of the inaugural BABELL – City of Books festival. The announcement follows a period of increased literary activity for Lipa, whose growing profile as a cultural curator was highlighted earlier this year when she expanded her involvement to curate the London Literature Festival, continuing a years-long effort to bridge the worlds of music, publishing and public discourse.
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Located inside Livraria Lello’s new cultural auditorium designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Álvaro Siza, the permanent installation features 100 books organized around four themes: power, control, voice and memory. The collection includes works that have been banned, censored or otherwise challenged, alongside books that continue to provoke debate around identity, race, gender, political power and freedom of expression. Among the titles included are Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Reginald Dwayne Betts’ Felon.
“When I founded the Service95 Book Club, my ambition was for it to become a home for writers and readers, wherever they are and whatever their circumstances,” Lipa says. “Reading the world brings us closer — but sadly, not everyone is in favour of that.”
Lipa describedsthe collection as “a shrine to books that have disappeared, to authors whose courage unmasks structures of power and control, and to readers who refuse to be told what book they are allowed to read. Sometimes the most subversive thing you can do is read a book and then talk about it.”
The library represents the first permanent physical expression of the editorial vision behind Service95 Book Club, which has featured conversations between Lipa and writers including Atwood, Olga Tokarczuk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Percival Everett. Rather than functioning as a static archive, organizers envision the Manifesto Library as an active cultural space centered on reading, debate and public participation.
Tomorrow’s opening event will recreate the atmosphere of Service95’s “Book Tasting” gatherings, pairing literary discussion with Portuguese wines selected by Sogrape. Authors including Tokarczuk and Salman Rushdie, both represented in the collection, are expected to participate in the broader BABELL festival programming.
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