Ali Smith: Gliff
Intrepid and unshrinking, author Ali Smith launches her new novel, Gliff, a look at how we make meaning, in conversation with Eley Williams.
With a nod to the traditions of dystopian fiction, a glance at the Kafkaesque, and a new take on the notion of classic, Gliff is a moving and electrifying read, a vital and prescient tale of the versatility and variety deep-rooted in language, in nature and in human nature.
Selected as one of Granta‘s Best Young British Novelists 2023, Eley Williams’ fiction appears in journals and anthologies including Pilot Press’ Modern Queer Poets, The Penguin Book of the Contemporary British Short Story and Liberating the Canon, edited by Isabel Waidner. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, her second collection of short stories, Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good is published this year with a second novel coming in 2025.
Need to know
For your visit
This event is held at the Purcell Room Southbank Centre
The Purcell Room is located in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, which is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
Plan your visit
The Purcell Room is an auditorium located within our Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Getting here
Our address is Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX.
The nearest tube stations to us are Waterloo and Embankment; Waterloo is also the nearest train station. And more than 20 different London bus routes pass within 500 metres of our venues. More information on getting here by rail, road or river is available on our Getting here page.
We’re cash-free
Please note that we’re unable to accept cash payments across our venues.
Access
We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
All help points, toilets, performance and exhibition spaces at the Southbank Centre are accessible to all, as are the cafes, bars and restaurants. We also have excellent public transport links with step-free access.
All information about booking wheelchair spaces, step-free access, blue badge parking, access maps and guides and other help available whilst you’re here, including details about our Access Scheme, can be found on our Access page.
Food & drink
From coffee to cocktails, filling favourites to fine dining, plus some of London’s best street food – it’s all here at the Southbank Centre.