Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith FRSL is an English novelist, essayist, and short story writer...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth25 October 1975
world firsts social-network
World makers, social network makers, ask one question first: 'How can I do it?'
doe alternatives action
The lack of alternatives to an illegal action does not legitimise that action.
interesting people political
People profess to have certain political positions, but their conservatism or liberalism is really the least interesting thing about them.
rap funny-things strange
It's a funny thing about rap, that when you say 'I' into the microphone, it's like a public confession. It's very strange.
mistake book writing
If you're going to write a good book, you have to make mistakes and you have to not be so cautious all the time.
writing talking honest
I'm most honest about writing when I'm talking to family or friends, not to newspapers.
white different teeth
I wrote 'White Teeth' in the late nineties. I didn't really feel trepidatious about it. It was a different time.
political novelists insight
I recognize myself to be an intensely naive person. Most novelists are, despite frequent pretensions to deep socio-political insight.
ideas worry nostalgic
I often worry that my idea of personhood is nostalgic, irrational, inaccurate.
book people battle
I like books that expose me to people unlike me and books that do battle against caricature or simplification. That, to me, is the heroic in fiction.
book house mum
I don't keep any copies of my books in the house - they go to my mum's flat. I don't like them around.
growing-up fiction changed
English fiction was something I loved growing up, and it changed my life - it changed the trajectory of my life.
girl nerd get-money
Don't we all know why nerds do what they do? To get money, which leads to popularity, which leads to girls.
artist errors politician
Any artist who aligns themselves with a politician is making a category error because what politicians do is not on a human scale, it is on a geopolitical scale.