Zadie Smith: Dead and Alive
In conversation with Erica Wagner, the author discusses her new collection of essays delving into subjects including Stormzy, governments and ‘the commons’.
Throughout this thrilling collection, Zadie Smith shows us once again her unrivalled ability to think through critically and humanely some of the most urgent preoccupations and tendencies of our troubled times.
She takes an exhilaratingly close look at artists Toyin Ojih Odutola, Kara Walker and Celia Paul. She invites us along to the movies, to see and to think about Tár, and to Glastonbury to witness the ascendance of Stormzy.
She takes us on a walk down Kilburn High Road in her beloved north-west London and invites us to mourn with her the passing of writers Joan Didion, Martin Amis, Hilary Mantel, Philip Roth and Toni Morrison. She considers changes of government on both sides of the Atlantic – and the meaning of ‘the commons’ in all our lives.
Erica Wagner was Literary Editor of The Times for 17 years and is the author of six books of fiction and non-fiction. She has twice been a judge of the Booker Prize and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023.
Need to know
Erica Wagner
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