The popstar and book lover's Manifesto Library in Porto curates 100 books that challenge societal mindsets “because sometimes the most subversive thing you can do is read a book and then talk about it,”
An avid reader, Dua Lipa has been sharing her monthly book picks on the Book Club page of Service95.com, her website that highlights stories of creatives across various pursuits.
Photo from service95.com
Ensconced within the Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal, said to be the most beautiful library in the world, is the Manifesto Library. Within its shelves are a curated list of 100 books that were once banned and controversial for ideas that challenge societal norms.
What makes this library especially interesting is the person who curated it - singer, songwriter, and avid book reader Dua Lipa.
In late June, Porto was designated as a 'city of books' by assembling some of literature's greatest minds for the Barbell Festival for a week of intellectual discourse. Coinciding with the event, the Manifesto Library was launched at the Livraria Lello as a permanent collection of books that dared readers to challenge and debate traditional societal mindsets. “Reading the world brings us closer - but sadly, not everyone is in favor of that," says Lipa. “This 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 curated books are divided among four key categories: Power, Control, Voice and Memory.
Among the titles readers can find on the shelves are Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, NoViolet Bulawayo's Glory, Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, Ai Weiwei's Ai Weiwei on Censorship, and George Orwell's Animal Farm.
Aside from being a singer and songwriter, Dua Lipa has also made the creative arts her personal advocacy as an artist and cultural curator. In 2022, she founded Service95, providing a platform for conversations with and stories about writers and cultural figures within the arts, activism, travel, wellbeing, and fashion space. Her passion for books is seen on the site's Book Club page, which features her monthly reading recommendations, as well as Q&As with authors, and deep dives into your next must-read book. As it says on the site, "This is the world, curated for you."
She is set to curate the upcoming 2026 London Literature Festival, in celebration of the Southbank Centre in London's 75th anniversary. "I can’t wait to dive into the imaginations of some of my favourite authors in one of London’s most iconic cultural spaces," enthused Lipa.
