Dua Lipa Opens Library for Banned Books in Portugal

The pop icon’s first-ever physical library opened on June 27 at the BABELL International Book Festival and will be permanently open to support access to banned books and other such influential pieces of literature.

In a powerful statement, Dua Lipa detailed the ambition behind the project, sharing that the library “is 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." The Manifesto Library features 100 books “that challenge power, censorship, exclusion, and dominant narratives.”

These books are distributed across four themes: Power, which deals with people who hold authority and influence; Control, which deals with the suppression of freedom of thought; Voice, which focuses on perspectives that stay disregarded; and Memory, which fights against erasure. Prominent banned and challenged books in the curated collection include The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, 1984 by George Orwell, The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir, The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa, and The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, among many others.

Dua Lipa, the founder of her very own book club, “Service95,” in 2022, is known as a passionate reader who consistently posts her monthly picks and in-depth author interviews on her podcast. The pop icon and bookworm described the opening of this library as her dream partnership that finally came to fruition after years of diligence.

“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,” shared Lipa. Her belief in reading as a medium that brings the world together fuels her fight against censorship in books.

Service95 details its objective behind the launch of The Manifesto Library: “It’s a space that brings together titles that have been subject to public debate, some that take censorship itself as their subject, and others that have provoked sustained, uncomfortable debate about race, gender, identity, and political power. Some books haven’t been directly challenged but instead do the challenging – whether of existing power structures or the suppression of individual and collective voices – amplifying voices and preserving memories that others have tried to erase.”

Research from PEN America pointed to nearly 23,000 book bans in U.S public schools since 2021, mostly targeted towards literature covering topics about race and LGBTQIA+ people. When a book is challenged or taken down from libraries, it is often because the text exposes uncomfortable truths and deals with complex socio-political issues. Reading, especially reading banned books, is a crucial step towards defending intellectual freedom and giving rightful space to marginalized perspectives.

This article is written by Hridya Lakkadi, a student of CBIT, interning with Deccan Chronicle