Head of Literature and Spoken Word
Southbank Centre Closing date: Sun, 27 Sep 2026
- Full time
- £50k+
- Apply now
Wed, 26 Aug 2026 "> published -
Job Summary
Job Description
The Opportunity
We are looking for an exceptional creative leader to curate and deliver over 150 extraordinary events each year. From electrifying live poetry and interdisciplinary performance to high-profile talks, debates, and major cultural moments, you will steer a year-round artistic programme where words transform, challenge, and inspire.
You will lead our strategy to redress the national decline in reading, help make writers careers sustainable and position Southbank Centre at the heart of the national conversation.
You'll take the lead of our world-renowned annual London Literature Festival (co-curated this year with Dua Lipa) and pioneer high-impact partnerships, such as our current work with Goalhanger to produce The Rest Is Fest.
You'll build powerful alliances across publishing, agency, and literary networks. You will nurture ground-breaking, diverse new voices and work with our Audiences team to ensure our digital content strategy reaches global audiences.
Who You Are
You are a dynamic champion of literature in all its forms, driven by an ambitious vision for public engagement. You believe passionately that literature and spoken word belong to everyone, possess the power to transcend artistic disciplines, and must speak directly to the urgent, complex world we live in today.
Apply now to join our team.
Job Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities:
To deliver the Literature and Spoken Word Strategy, which addresses three key societal and sector needs - reversing reading decline, supporting author sustainability and driving public discourse - through the year-round literature and spoken word programme and related initiatives.
To lead on curating the literature and spoken word programme across the Southbank Centre site and online, including the London Literature Festival, own-promotions, co-promotions, new commissions and rentals.
To contribute to the wider artistic life of the Southbank Centre, fully engaging with the artistic planning process, forging collaborative projects with art-form leads across music, performance and dance, creative technology and visual arts.
Job Overview
- Job Title: Head of Literature and Spoken Word
- Salary: £50k+
- Hours: Full time
- Artform: Literature
- Role: Creative
- Contract: Permanent
- Closing date: Sun, 27 Sep 2026
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Location:
| view on Google MapsLondon
Job: Head of Literature and Spoken Word
Job: Head of Literature and Spoken Word
Organisation: Southbank Centre
Postcode: SE1 8XX
How to Apply
Please ensure to submit an application on our careers page, as applications received via email won't be considered.
- Contact name: People Team
- Contact email: [email protected]
About Southbank Centre
The Southbank Centre is a charity that is determined to demonstrate its ambition to remain innovative, disruptive and experimental in what it does and to be highly relevant to the artists it wants to work with and to the audiences it wants to attract.
The Southbank Centre believes that a commitment to diversity and inclusion helps it be a more relevant and effective organisation.