Hillary and Chelsea Clinton to headline Southbank Centre

Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton are appearing at the Southbank Centre in November to launch their new book, The Book of Gutsy Women: Favourite Stories of Courage and Resilience (Simon & Schuster).

The pair will headline at the Royal Festival Hall in central London on 10th November to “celebrate the women who have inspired them throughout their lives”. The Book of Gutsy Women was announced last month, with Carolyn Reidy, president and c.e.o. of S&S snapping up world rights. It will be published globally on 1st October.

Clinton launched her autobiography What Happened (S&S UK) two years ago at the 2017 London Literature Festival. However this event will mark her daughter’s debut at the venue, and they will be joined on stage by writer, broadcaster and professor of Classics, Mary Beard to chair the event.

Southbank Centre and S&S will donate 300 free tickets to Lambeth state secondary schools and Southbank Centre’s Youth Partners. They will take a seat in the Royal Festival Hall auditorium, which seats just over 2,700 people and, along with the rest of the audience, will receive a hardback copy of The Book of Gutsy Women.

It covers portraits of more than 100 women marking histories "that have all too often been overlooked or left unwritten including the stories of Mary Edwards Walker, a Civil War surgeon who was arrested more than once for wearing trousers; Rosa May Billinghurst, the suffragette who lost the use of her legs and campaigned in a tricycle for the right of women to vote and Manal al-Sharif, who captured the world’s attention in 2011 when she filmed herself driving a car in defiance of Saudi custom".

The publisher said: “With a diverse range of women's stories from Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old climate activist whose Asperger’s syndrome has shaped her advocacy, to Sor Juan Inés de la Cruz, a 17th-century nun and poet whose outspoken views on women’s role in society scandalised audiences.”

Secretary Clinton said: “Each of these women has fought and won the kinds of victories that pave the way for progress for all of us. To us, they are all gutsy women—leaders with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done. This book is a continuation of a conversation Chelsea and I have been having since she was a little girl, and we are excited to welcome others into that conversation.”

Chelsea Clinton said: “The gutsy women in this book share a fierce optimism that their work and lives will make a difference in the world. And, they’re right. We hope readers will draw strength from their stories as we have, because if history shows one thing, it’s that the world needs more gutsy women.”

Bea Colley, acting senior literature programmer, Southbank Centre said, “We are absolutely delighted that Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton have chosen to launch The Book of Gutsy Women at Southbank Centre, the home of literature and a place that has long been an advocate for gender equality. We’re looking forward to welcoming Secretary Clinton back after the huge success of her appearance here in 2017. This event promises to be altogether different in subject matter, and just as compelling, and I can’t wait to hear our audiences engage in conversation on inspirational women with these two women.”  

Tickets for the event go on sale to Southbank Centre Members on Thursday 3 October and to the general public on Friday 4 October. Visit southbankcentre.co.uk or call 0203 879 9555 for more information.