Southbank Literature festival celebrates Martin Luther King and Mandela The season is designed to celebrate the power of revolutionary thinking and explore the changing face of politics. In the events around Mandela's legacy, 27 writers, poets, musicians, and actors will each perform a piece in his honour. There will also be a day focussing on the political and cultural upheaval in Greece, and Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for continuing to attend school, will launch her new memoir at the festival. Among the leading authors appearing are Margaret Atwood, Jhumpa Lahiri and the best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, discussing her first novel for 12 years, The Signature of All Things. On the day that his new James Bond novel, Solo, is published, September 26, author William Boyd talks for the first time about continuing Ian Fleming's legacy and his experience of writing about 007. The Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney gives The Frank Kermode Memorial Lecture for 2013 while the nominees for The Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction come to the Southbank Centre for the first time. There will also be appearances from comedian Jennifer Saunders and historian David Kynaston and scientist as well as best-selling author Simon Singh, who investigates the mathematics in The Simpsons, analysing the complex mathematical jokes that litter the TV series. James Runcie, Head of Literature and the Spoken Word at the Southbank Centre said: "Our scope is deliberately broad and I'm particularly looking forward to our poetry extravaganza pegged to the 60th anniversary of our Saison Poetry Library." Tickets for events are on sale from July 11 to the general public. Tickets can be booked via www.southbankcentre.co.uk or via the box office on 0844 847 9910