FEATURE:
Turning the Page…
IN THIS PHOTO: Dua Lipa greets 2020 Booker Prize winner, Douglas Stuart, where they recorded a live podcast episode (available from 16th June from Dua Lipa: At Your Service) at the weekend at the Hay Festival/PHOTO CREDIT: Service95/Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa’s New Service95 Book Club, and Its Hugely Positive and Inspiring Impact and Ethos
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BIG and important artists…
PHOTO CREDIT: Service95/Dua Lipa
can influence fans in a number of different ways. Whether it is talking about important issues or raising awareness of various forms of prejudice, I think that they should use their platform when they can regarding important or good causes. It can be very anxiety-inducing and tough for a major artist being on social media. Whilst they can do a lot of good and reach people instantly, they are also subjected to enough hatred and offensive comments. Whether they are beloved or not, there is a lot of pressure. It can be overwhelming keeping on top of things and balancing promoting themselves online and having to spend so much time on social media. When they need a break or chance to have a normal life, they have this expectation to be on there a lot! Enough artists have come off of platforms like Twitter, as they feel it is too strange, damaging and tiring being there. I can get that. For Dua Lipa, the reality is that she is on social media. That said, she understands how it can take over your life. At the weekend, she appeared at the Hay Festival. She was there to talk about her new venture. The Service95 Book Club is a very interesting and compelling idea. I remember when Lipa excitedly announced it on Instagram. Whilst she was at the festival, she recorded a podcast episode (available on 15th June) and was interviewed by Gaby Wood for Stories of My Life (I am not sure if that is coming out soon, but I shall have a look out).
@service95 Service95 goes to Hay Festival! 📖🌐 #service95 #dualipa #hayfestival #hayfestival2023 #booktok ♬ original sound - Service95
For a major artists who tours the world and is seen in all of these glamorous and glitzy locations, there was something charmingly humble and grounded about the more low-key Hay Festival. It was clearly very important to Dua Lipa, who is very passionate about books. Whilst she herself would probably like to be on social media little less, she is connecting with fans and promoting her various projects and work. She was interviewed by The Times recently about books and the book club, in addition to the importance of weeing oneself off of social media. There is a two-fold benefit about the Service95 and encouraging fans to get into literature. They get to discover great works they might have overwise missed. Having that influence from Lipa means that many will get into reading. That will have enormous mental health impacts! Some really good and enriching experiences. It is important younger people can connect with others through social media, though it can consume us and become an obsession. They will never get away from the hurtful things and horror that there is here – more’s the pity! -, but reading it a brilliant nourishing, educational and distracting way of engaging in something. Dua Lipa will also help build this network of fans who can talk about literature in a very positive way. I am looking forward to the podcast episode and what she says about the book club.
There are a couple of articles online pertaining to the Service95 Book Club and why she set it up. Harper’s Bazaar last month about the concept and intentions. In addition to reaching her fans by opening their mind to various different books, she also wants to focus on diverse voices and genres – maybe those that would otherwise be overlooked and not discussed widely:
“If you’re starting to compile your summer holiday reading list, look no further for recommendations than Dua Lipa’s new book club. The multi-Grammy and Brit award-winning singer, who recently co-hosted the Met Gala, is launching a monthly club via her own platform, Service95 – a global style, arts and society platform that describes itself as "the ultimate cultural concierge".
Members will be invited to read a book personally chosen by the artist, with selections reflecting diverse global voices that tell powerful stories across genres. Expect everything from fiction to memoir and manifesto, recent releases to literary classics.
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“Reading a book is one of the most profound joys in life,” says Lipa. “Reading provides a form of escapism, a way to understand human connection and helps us navigate human relationships. Through the pages of a book, I can go places that I have never been and feel like I have lived there for a lifetime.”
PHOTO CREDIT: YSL
The Service95 Book Club kicks off in June with Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, which won the Booker Prize and both ‘Debut of the Year’ and ‘Book of the Year’ at the British Book Awards when it was released in 2020. Lipa will also meet Stuart at the prestigious Hay Festival in Wales on 3 June for a special live-recorded episode of her podcast, Dua Lipa: At Your Service.
“I am thrilled that Shuggie Bain is the inaugural pick for the Service95 Book Club,” says Stuart. “I have so much respect for Dua Lipa and her artistry, and I really admire that she uses her platform to inspire readers, and to keep books at the centre of our cultural conversations.”
It won’t be the first time that the singer has hosted an author on her podcast; in the past, she has spoken to renowned writers including Hanya Yanagihara, Min Jin Lee and Lisa Taddeo on the platform.
The Service95 Book Club will offer readers a chance to dip in to even more content, including discussion guides and author Q&As. There’ll be deep dives into the books that have shaped the lives of authors, and a steady stream of recommended reading outside of the Book of the Month.
“The true magic of a great book comes alive with sharing the experience, talking with friends, and swapping recommendations of what to read next,” says Lipa. “I can’t wait to do that with readers from every corner of the globe through the Service95 Book Club”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Lauren Leekley for The Times
Dua Lipa has spoken out about the Government’s immigration policies and the way they reject and endanger those trying to come to this country. As someone who is eldest child of Kosovo Albanian parents Anesa (née Rexha) and Dukagjin Lipa from Pristina, FR Yugoslavia (present-day Kosovo) and has a maternal grandmother who is of Bosniak descent, she has this empathy and natural compassion. In addition to meeting dedicated fans who travelled far and wide to meet her, as the BBC reported, she discussed being split between her heritage and being a British citizen:
“There was always the idea of being from two places at once," she explained. "I understood the duality of my heritage from an early age. People would always ask where my name is from.
"I was really proud of it, but when I was younger I wished my name was, say, Hannah - something 'normal' and English."
As well as "making up dance routines in the playground at school", the singer said "reading was also such a big part of my life".
When she moved to Kosovo, she discovered The Castle/The Siege by Albanian author Ismail Kadare, set amid a conflict in the 15th Century.
"The memory I have of reading it is that it was really difficult, it's a big book, but it was a gateway into my Albanian roots. It was like another milestone moment in my life that really shifted things for me."
When she moved back to London at 15, she came on her own and shared a flat with the daughter of family friends from Kosovo. That would be quite daunting for most young teenagers.
'Difficult relationship'
"I was quite determined," Dua said. "I didn't feel I had the same opportunities in music as I had in London. I was driven. My dad says I'm very hard to say no to!"
After finishing her studies, she set about making it in the music industry.
"I was really persistent. I just started writing a lot, worked with a producer. I was 17. I was offered a publishing deal but [producer] Felix told me to go to a lawyer, who said, 'Don't sign that deal!' They then helped me get into the studio."
Along the way, she found herself in a "difficult, early relationship in my life", she said, explaining: "I guess I was in a relationship with someone who had a very different idea of fidelity than I had."
Kundera's 1994 classic The Unbearable Lightness of Being helped her through it.
'In the deep end'
"[Main character] Tomas has a very unapologetic philosophy on relationships and monogamy. My philosophy never changed... but books help you understand other people's emotions, the human experience," she explained.
Dua's love of books has led her to interview renowned authors including Hanya Yanagihara, who wrote A Little Life, on her podcast Dua Lipa: At Your Service. She also recorded a special episode in conversation with Shuggie Bain author and Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart at Hay on Saturday - the first book of the month pick for her new Service95 book club.
"I'm still figuring it out sometimes. If there's something that you like, why not try it? You'll never know unless you just dive in," she said”.
I think that the Service95 Book Club and everything Dua Lipa is doing is amazing. She is getting people to engage with literature and a range of different cultures and heritages. By introducing people to these alternative worlds and viewpoints, it provides this education and experience that they may not be getting from school and online. Our current Government is seeing out this message about people who are different and displaced – that they are not welcome here. Lipa is encouraging more humanity, acceptance and open-mindedness. In addition, she is helping people discover a more healthy and less toxic balance of sociability and online activity. Giving this alternative to young people who be made vulnerable and exposed being on social media so long. She is an ambassador and mainstream artist, so she cannot really disconnect so much. Though she knows of the dangers and pitfalls of social media. Having been in the media for various reasons (splitting with her previous boyfriend, having political opinions etc.), there will be negative comments and intrusion from so many different avenues and directions. Get involved with the Service95 Book Club.! The aim and ethos of the book club is wonderful:
“We are thrilled to have a space where we can share with each other the titles that mean the most to us, and together dive into the minds of some of the world’s greatest authors.
Each month we will discuss a book personally chosen by Dua, representing writing from across the globe, assisted by new editorial content – such as discussion guides and further reading lists – that will bring you closer to the writer, their inspirations, and the worlds they create. You’re invited to read along with us, share your insights, and contribute your recommendations of the titles we should all know about”.
You can follow them on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter at @service95 (they are on YouTube too). Kudos to the inspiring and wonderful Dua Lipa for this! She is an incredible role model for so many people out there. Through her music, interviews and book club, she is this vital voice and wonderfully positive and influential voice that we need to encourage. I can see her, in years to come, becoming more involved in politics and social issues, maybe as a charity ambassador or speaking at worldwide conferences. For now, the magnificent Service95 Book Club is doing magnificent work and encouraging so many people to immerse themselves in spellbinding literature. If you do not know about it, then check it out and take a page out of…
DUA Lipa’s book!