Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith

Published on 30th October 2025.
 
In this keenly awaited new collection, Zadie Smith brings her unique skills as an essayist to bear on a range of subjects which have captured her attention in recent years: artists, such as Toyin Ojih Odutola, Kara Walker and Celia Paul; the passing of some of our greatest writers (Didion, Amis, Mantel, Roth, Morrison); changes of government on both sides of the Atlantic – and the meaning of ‘the commons’ in all our lives. Here, Zadie Smith shows us once again her unrivalled ability to think through some of the most urgent preoccupations of our troubled times.