Free The Word!

Free the Word is a literary festival taking place on London's Southbank this April

Over the weekend of April 12th and 13th the Southbank Centre hosts Free The Word and will become animated, forming a lively hub for the festival, offering a meeting place and information point, as well as an ambient space in which to celebrate the spirit of Free the Word.

Free The Word engages with stories from all over the world. International PEN is the worldwide association of writers that defends freedom of expression and promotes the development of a community of writers across cultures and languages.

Some events will charge an admission fee but plenty are free. Including events taking place in the Sprit Level bar of the Southbank Centre and the National Theatre's late night bar,

Find out more about free events at the Southbank Centre.

How to get there

Rail - Waterloo, Waterloo East or walk over the Hungerford Bridge from Charing Cross.

Underground - The closest tube stations are Waterloo (on the Northern, Bakerloo & Jubilee lines), Southwark (on the Jubilee line) or walk over the Hungerford Bridge from Embankment (on the Northern, Bakerloo, District and Circle lines).

Buses - All the following buses stop on Waterloo Bridge and you can take the steps down to Southbank on either side of the bridge or use the pavements that slope down away from the river and then double back to take you to Upper Ground, which runs behind the Southbank Centre: 1, 4, 26, 59, 68, 76, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 243, 341, 521, X68, Riverside Bus (RV1 - which also stops on Upper Ground which runs by the back of the Southbank Centre). 77 (Upper Ground near the Festival Hall), 211 & 507 (Waterloo Road near the main station), 381 (Stamford Street). 45, 63 & 100 all stop at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge, and there is a 10 minute walk along the riverside to the Southbank Centre.