Dua Lipa Launches 'Manifesto Library' to Champion Banned Books and Reading Freedom

Pop star Dua Lipa has inaugurated the Manifesto Library, a permanent collection in Porto, Portugal, dedicated to books that have faced bans, censorship, or controversy worldwide. The library opened as part of the BABELL international book festival, housed within the historic Livraria Lello bookstore.

The Manifesto Library showcases over 100 titles, organized around four central themes: power, control, voice, and memory. Each book selected has a unique history, ranging from being banned by governments to being removed from school curricula, or written by authors who faced legal threats and personal pressure.

This initiative is an extension of Lipa's commitment to literature, building on her 2021 newsletter Service95, which evolved into a digital media platform featuring a virtual book club. Through the Manifesto Library, Lipa seeks to create a space where people can access works that have been restricted.

In a statement, Lipa described the library as a sanctuary for "silenced" books and courageous authors who challenge power structures. She emphasized that reading and discussing books can be a revolutionary act, particularly in the current climate of increasing book bans, especially in the United States. The library includes controversial works like Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" and Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses," alongside other significant literary pieces.

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This library is a sanctuary for lost books, for writers whose courage has exposed structures of power and control, and for readers who refuse to be told what they can read. Sometimes the most revolutionary act that you can do is to pick up a book and talk about it.