Patti Smith’s London conversation with Dua Lipa placed the people behind her work alongside the music and books that made her an icon.
Patti Smith joined Dua Lipa at Royal Festival Hall on October 25 for a London Literature Festival discussion centered on Bread of Angels. The evening formed part of Lipa’s curation with her Service95 Book Club, bringing two generations of musicians together through writing.
Smith’s memoir, published in 2025, ranges beyond the relationship at the heart of Just Kids. In BRICKS’ account of the event, the discussion moved from her childhood and siblings to public life and the years she devoted to raising a family.
The conversation also returned to how personal memories become a book. Smith recalled promising Robert Mapplethorpe that she would write Just Kids, then later finding the structure for another memoir in a dream organized around dresses from different stages of her life.
Those garments connected childhood, artistic discovery, rock music and marriage rather than serving simply as fashion details. They offered Smith a way to organize experiences around the people who had helped shape them.
A lighter exchange brought the conversation back to songs. Asked about each other’s music, Lipa singled out “Dancing Barefoot,” while Smith chose “Houdini,” revealing an admiration that ran in both directions rather than only from the younger artist to her guest.
The festival continues through November 1 at the Southbank Centre. Smith’s appearance gave its literary focus a musical dimension, while keeping the evening rooted in the craft of memoir and the relationships that survive inside an artist’s work.
More News, Chris Brown and Usher Cut Four R&B Tour Stops Ahead of London Sentencing
