You Belong Here: British Identity
A panel of writers, including Xiaolu Guo and Tomiwa Owolade, engage with Britain's past, wrestle with its present and offer us alternatives for the future.
Brexit meant Brexit, sort of – now what does British mean?
The UK is more divided than ever. When national identity feels mired in division, how can we approach it with pride and inclusivity?
Join us for this panel discussion, chaired by Lara Pawson, which picks up on the explorations of identity and belonging which our summer season, You Belong Here, is dedicated to.
Jassa Ahluwalia is a British actor, writer, filmmaker and trade unionist, who has starred in Unforgotten, Ripper Street and Peaky Blinders. Born in Coventry to a white English mum and a brown Punjabi dad in 1990, he spoke English in the playground and Punjabi with his grandparents. His TEDx talk, 'How Language Shapes Identity', has clocked up over 180k views and his BBC One documentary Am I English? won an Asian Media Award in 2022. His memoir Both Not Half explores mixed-heritage experience and how to belong in a divided world.
Xiaolu Guo was born in China. She published six books before moving to Britain in 2002. Her books include Once Upon a Time in the East, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award, was shortlisted for the Costa Biography Award and the Rathbones Folio Prize 2018. It was a Sunday Times Book of the Year. Her most recent novel, A Lover's Discourse was shortlisted for The Goldsmiths Prize 2020. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a visiting professor at the Free University in Berlin.
Tomiwa Owolade writes about social, cultural and literary issues for the New Statesman, The Times, the Sunday Times, the Observer, UnHerd and the Evening Standard. He won top prize at the RSL Giles St Aubyn Awards 2021. His book This is Not America: Why Black Lives in Britain Matter was published in 2022.
Lara Pawson lives in London. Her fragmentary memoir, This Is the Place to Be, was shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize, the PEN Ackerley Prize and the Bread & Roses Award. Her first book, In the Name of the People: Angola's Forgotten Massacre, was longlisted for The Orwell Prize, and shortlisted for the Royal Africa Society Book of the Year and the Bread & Roses Award. She began her career as a BBC World Service foreign correspondent. Her third book, Spent Light, was published in January 2024.
Need to know
For ages 16+
Dates & times
Price
- Standard entryFrom £15*
- Concessions25%**
* Excludes £3.50 booking fee.
Book as early as you can to ensure the best choice of tickets. Ticket prices may be adjusted without notice to reflect demand.
** Limited availability. Read about concessions.
Tickets can only be sold through the Southbank Centre and our authorised agents, and can't be resold. You can return your tickets to the Southbank Centre for a credit voucher up to 48 hours before the event. Tickets resold on any third-party platforms will become invalid.
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Venue
Purcell Room
Our number one priority is the health and wellbeing of our visitors and staff.
Open 90 minutes before an event until the end of the event. Closed at all other times.
Our address is: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. The nearest tube and train stations within 5-7 minutes walk are Waterloo (Northern, Bakerloo, Jubilee and Waterloo & City lines) and Embankment (District & Circle lines). There are also lots of bus routes with stops 2-5 minutes from our venues. For more information on getting here by road, rail or river.
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If you don't receive your e-ticket
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More information
Find out all you need to know about tickets, including concessions, group bookings, returns, credit vouchers and more, via the link below.
Get an overview of the seating layout of the Purcell Room by downloading our seating plan.
Toilets
An accessible toilet is located in the foyer.
A Changing Places toilet is located on Level 1 Royal Festival Hall next to the JCB Glass Lift, for the exclusive use of disabled people who need personal assistance to use the toilet.
The facility includes a height-adjustable bench, tracking hoist system, a centrally-placed toilet, a height-adjustable basin and a shower. Please visit the Welcome Desk on Level 2, Royal Festival Hall, where a member of staff can provide you with the key. You can also use the phone next to the Changing Places toilet to speak to a member of staff. The facility is open daily 10am – 11pm.
Cloakroom
The Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room cloakroom is closed. You won’t be able to bring any bags over 40 x 25 x 25cm into the venues, so please leave large bags at home.
We're cash-free
Please note that we're unable to accept cash payments across our site.
Purcell Room is located in Queen Elizabeth Hall. For step-free access please use Royal Festival Hall JCB glass lift to Level 2 and enter via Riverside Terrace.
Talk to a member of staff at the auditorium entrance if you have a disability that means you can’t queue, or you need extra time to take your seat. They can arrange priority entry for you as soon as the doors open.
Please bear with us while we update our access map to reflect the refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall’s Level 2 foyer spaces. The step-free routes remain the same.