Ali Smith

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Scottish author and journalist (born 1962)

title: "Ali Smith" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1962-births", "living-people", "20th-century-british-journalists", "20th-century-scottish-short-story-writers", "scottish-women-short-story-writers", "20th-century-scottish-dramatists-and-playwrights", "20th-century-scottish-novelists", "20th-century-scottish-women-writers", "21st-century-scottish-journalists", "21st-century-british-short-story-writers", "21st-century-scottish-dramatists-and-playwrights", "21st-century-scottish-lgbtq-people", "21st-century-scottish-women-writers", "21st-century-scottish-writers", "academics-of-the-university-of-strathclyde", "alumni-of-newnham-college,-cambridge", "alumni-of-the-university-of-aberdeen", "british-bisexual-writers", "british-women-journalists", "commanders-of-the-order-of-the-british-empire", "fellows-of-the-royal-society-of-literature", "goldsmiths-prize-winners", "people-educated-at-inverness-high-school", "people-from-inverness", "people-with-myalgic-encephalomyelitis/chronic-fatigue-syndrome", "scottish-academics-of-english-literature", "scottish-lgbtq-novelists", "scottish-scholars-and-academics", "scottish-women-academics", "scottish-women-dramatists-and-playwrights", "scottish-women-novelists", "writers-from-cambridge", "writers-of-mythic-fiction", "women's-prize-for-fiction-winners", "20th-century-british-women-novelists", "21st-century-british-women-novelists"] description: "Scottish author and journalist (born 1962)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Smith" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Scottish author and journalist (born 1962) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox writer"]

FieldValue
nameAli Smith
honorific_suffixCBE FRSL
imageAliSmith2011 (cropped).png
partnerSarah Wood
captionSmith signing books at Edinburgh International Book Festival
birth_date
birth_placeInverness, Scotland
occupationAuthor, playwright, academic, journalist
nationalityScottish
alma_materUniversity of Aberdeen
Newnham College, Cambridge
period1986–present
::

| name = Ali Smith | honorific_suffix = CBE FRSL | image = AliSmith2011 (cropped).png | alt = | partner = Sarah Wood | caption = Smith signing books at Edinburgh International Book Festival | pseudonym = | birth_date = | birth_place = Inverness, Scotland | occupation = Author, playwright, academic, journalist | nationality = Scottish | alma_mater = University of Aberdeen Newnham College, Cambridge | period = 1986–present | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | website = | imagesize = | debut_works = | influences = | influenced = Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting".

Early life and education

Smith was born in Inverness on 24 August 1962 to Ann and Donald Smith. Her parents were working-class and she was raised in a council house in Inverness. From 1967 to 1974 she attended St. Joseph's RC Primary school, then went on to Inverness High School, leaving in 1980.

She studied a joint degree in English language and literature at the University of Aberdeen from 1980 to 1985, coming first in her class in 1982 and gaining a top first in Senior Honours English in 1984. She won the university's Bobby Aitken Memorial Prize for Poetry in 1984.

From 1985 to 1990 she attended Newnham College, Cambridge, studying for a PhD in American and Irish modernism. During her time at Cambridge, she began writing plays and as a result, did not complete her doctorate.

Smith moved to Edinburgh from Cambridge in 1990 and worked as a lecturer in Scottish, English and American literature at the University of Strathclyde. She left the university in 1992 because she was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. She returned to Cambridge to recuperate.

As a young woman, Smith held several part-time jobs including waitress, lettuce-cleaner, tourist board assistant, receptionist at BBC Highland and advertising copywriter.

Career

While studying for her PhD at Cambridge, Smith wrote several plays which were staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Cambridge Footlights. After some time working in Scotland, she returned to Cambridge to concentrate on her writing, in particular, focussing on short stories and freelancing as the fiction reviewer for The Scotsman newspaper. In 1995, she published her first book, Free Love and Other Stories, a collection of 12 short stories which won the Saltire First Book of the Year award and Scottish Arts Council Book Award.

She writes articles for The Guardian, The Scotsman, New Statesman and The Times Literary Supplement.

In 2009, she donated the short story "Last" (previously published in the Manchester Review online) to Oxfam's "Ox-Tales" project, four collections of UK stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the "Fire" collection.

Personal life

Smith lives in Cambridge with her partner, filmmaker Sarah Wood.

Awards and honours

In 2007, Smith was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to literature.{{London Gazette | issue = 61092 | date = 31 December 2014 | page = N10 | supp = y

An honorary doctorate (D.Litt) was awarded to her by Newcastle University in 2019.

In 2024, she was awarded the Bodley Medal for contributions to literature, the highest honour of the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

Literary awards

::data[format=table]

Year publishedWorkAwardCategoryResultRef200120052007201220132014201520162019202020222024
Hotel WorldBooker Prize—
Encore Award—
SMIT Book of the Year AwardBook of the Year
Fiction
Women's Prize for Fiction—
The AccidentalBooker Prize—
Costa Book AwardsNovel
Women's Prize for Fiction—
Girl Meets BoyDiva magazine readers' choiceBook of the Year
Sundial Scottish Arts CouncilNovel of the Year
There But For TheHawthornden Prize—
James Tait Black Memorial Prize—
SMIT Book AwardsFictiontitle=Janice Galloway wins Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year Award - Edinburgh International Book Festivalurl=https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/press-release/janice-galloway-wins-scottish-mortgage-investment-trust-book-of-the-year-awardurl-status=deadarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029132049/https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/press-release/janice-galloway-wins-scottish-mortgage-investment-trust-book-of-the-year-awardarchive-date=2023-10-29accessdate=6 October 2024website=Edinburgh International Book Festival}}
Women's Prize for Fiction—
ArtfulBristol Festival of Ideas Book Prize—
Goldsmiths Prize—
SMIT Book AwardsFiction
How to Be BothBooker Prize—date=9 September 2014title=Man Booker Prize: Howard Jacobson makes shortlisturl=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29123941access-date=9 September 2014website=BBC News}}
Costa Book AwardsNovel
Goldsmiths Prize—date=1 October 2014title=The shortlist for the 2014 Goldsmiths Prize has been announcedurl=http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/09/shortlist-2014-goldsmiths-prize-has-been-announcedaccess-date=2 October 2014website=New Statesman}}
Folio Prize—
Women's Prize for Fiction—last1=Lusherfirst1=Adamdate=3 June 2015title=Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2015 winner: Ali Smith triumphs with How to Be Bothurl=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/baileys-womens-prize-for-fiction-2015-winner-ali-smith-triumphs-with-how-to-be-both-10295326.htmlurl-access=subscriptionurl-status=livearchive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220506/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/baileys-womens-prize-for-fiction-2015-winner-ali-smith-triumphs-with-how-to-be-both-10295326.htmlarchive-date=6 May 2022access-date=17 June 2015website=The Independent}}
AutumnBooker Prize—last=Floodfirst=Alisondate=13 September 2017title=Man Booker prize 2017: shortlist makes room for debuts alongside big namesurl=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/13/man-booker-prize-2017-shortlist-debuts-big-names-saunders-mozley-fridlund-smith-austeraccess-date=20 October 2017website=The Guardian}}
SpringEuropese Literatuurprijs—
Highland Book Prize—
SummerOrwell Prize—
Highland Book Prize—
Companion PieceHighland Book Prize—
GliffHighland Book Prize—
::

Works

Novels

Short story collections

Plays

  • Stalemate (1986), unpublished, produced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  • The Dance (1988), unpublished, produced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  • Trace of Arc (1989), produced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  • Daughters of England (1989-1990), unpublished, Cambridge Footlights
  • Amazons (1990), Cambridge Footlights
  • Comic (1990), unpublished, produced at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
  • The Seer (2001)
  • Just (2005)

Other

  • Shire (2013), with images by Sarah Wood: short stories and autobiographical writing. Full Circle Editions.

Other projects

  • Ali Smith partnered with the Scottish band Trashcan Sinatras and wrote the lyrics to a song called "Half An Apple", a love song about keeping half an apple spare for a loved one who is gone. The song was released on 5 March 2007, on the album Ballads of the Book.
  • In 2008, Smith produced The Book Lover, a collection of her favourite writing, including pieces from Sylvia Plath, Muriel Spark, Grace Paley, and Margaret Atwood. It also includes work from writers such as Joseph Roth and Clarice Lispector.
  • In 2008, Smith contributed the short story "Writ" to an anthology supporting Save the Children. The anthology is entitled The Children's Hours and was published by Arcadia Books. Foreign editions have been published in Portugal, Italy, China and Korea.
  • In 2011 she wrote a short memoir for The Observer in their "Once upon a life" series: "Looking back on her life, writer Ali Smith returns to the moment of conception to weave a poignant and funny memoir of an irreverent father, a weakness for Greek musicals and a fateful border crossing."
  • In October 2011, Smith published The Story of Antigone, a retelling of the classic created by Sophocles. It is part of the "Save the stories" series by Pushkin Children’s Books and is illustrated by Laura Paoletti.
  • In October 2012, Smith read a sermon at Manchester Cathedral to guests and students, followed by a book signing.
  • In 2013, Smith published Artful, a book based on her lectures on European comparative literature delivered the previous year at St Anne's College, Oxford. Artful was well-received, with one reviewer commenting that, "...her new book, in which she tugs at God’s sleeve, ruminates on clowns, shoplifts used books, dabbles in Greek and palavers with the dead, is a stunner."
  • On 14 May 2013, Smith gave the National Centre for Writing's inaugural Harriet Martineau lecture, in celebration of Norwich, UNESCO's 2012 City of Literature.
  • Smith is also a patron of the Visual Verse online anthology and her piece "Untitled", written in response to an image by artist Rupert Jessop, appears in the November 2014 edition.
  • On 10 September 2015, Smith was nominated Honorary Fellow by Goldsmiths, University of London.
  • In 2011, she contributed the short story "Scots Pine (A Valediction Forbidding Mourning)" to Why Willows Weep, an anthology supporting The Woodland Trust. The paperback edition was released in 2016.
  • In July 2016, Smith was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of East Anglia.
  • Smith is a patron of Refugee Tales. In 2016, Smith's story "The Detainee's Tale" was published by Comma Press in Refugee Tales Volume 1.
  • In May 2021, Smith contributed a short story entitled "The final frontier" to The European Review of Books.

References

References

  1. (27 November 2016). "Best books of 2016 – part two". [[The Observer]].
  2. (2017). "Ali Smith, the Art of Fiction No. 236". The Paris Review.
  3. "Ali Smith". The British Council.
  4. Matthews, Elizabeth. (30 March 2007). "Novel approach struck a chord with Inverness writer". The Inverness Courier.
  5. (2013). "Ali Smith: Contemporary Critical Perspectives". Bloomsbury.
  6. "Smith, Ali 1962–".
  7. (2013-07-18). "Ali Smith: Contemporary Critical Perspectives". A&C Black.
  8. "Ali Smith - Honorary Award Holders, Anglia Ruskin University".
  9. (22 July 2008). "Ali Smith". Guardian News and Media Limited.
  10. Hershman, Tania. "The First Person and Other Stories by Ali Smith".
  11. "Order your copy of Ox-Tales : Talking Books : Oxfam GB".
  12. Winterson, Jeanette. (25 April 2003). "Ali Smith". The Times.
  13. Noted. "Ali Smith interview".
  14. "Royal Society of Literature All Fellows". Royal Society of Literature.
  15. "Order of the Companions of Honour : Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour".
  16. (17 July 2019). "Honorary degrees celebrate excellence".
  17. "Ali Smith to be awarded the prestigious Bodley Medal as part of the Oxford Literary Festival". [[Bodleian Library]], [[University of Oxford]].
  18. (2014-04-17). "Girl Meets Boy wins Diva Book Of The Year". The Myths.
  19. "Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year". Scottish Arts Council.
  20. (19 July 2012). "Award: The Hawthornden Prize for Literature". The Times.
  21. (2012-08-28). "'Best of prize' for James Tait Black book awards". BBC News.
  22. "Janice Galloway wins Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year Award - Edinburgh International Book Festival".
  23. (8 March 2012). "orange-prize-for-fiction-2012-longlist". The Guardian.
  24. (1 October 2013). "Jim Crace makes Goldsmiths Prize shortlist". [[BBC News]].
  25. (1 October 2013). "Shortlist 2013". Goldsmiths Prize.
  26. (9 September 2014). "Man Booker Prize: Howard Jacobson makes shortlist".
  27. (2015-01-05). "Ali Smith's 'How to be both' takes Costa novel award". Reuters.
  28. (1 October 2014). "The shortlist for the 2014 Goldsmiths Prize has been announced".
  29. (13 November 2014). "Ali Smith wins Goldsmiths Prize for How to be Both".
  30. "2015 {{!}} The Rathbones Folio Prize".
  31. (3 June 2015). "Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2015 winner: Ali Smith triumphs with How to Be Both".
  32. Flood, Alison. (13 September 2017). "Man Booker prize 2017: shortlist makes room for debuts alongside big names".
  33. "Europese Literatuurprijs 2020".
  34. "2019 Award".
  35. (2021-06-28). "Smith, Yaffa win 2021 Orwell Prizes".
  36. "The Highland Book Prize 2020 Shortlist".
  37. "The Highland Book Prize 2022 Shortlist".
  38. "The Highland Book Prize 2024 Shortlist".
  39. "Ali Smith". The British Council.
  40. Guest, Katy. (3 October 2008). "The First Person and Other Stories, By Ali Smith". The Independent.
  41. "Cambridge Footlights - 1980-1989 (Archive)".
  42. (2014-04-24). "Ali Smith".
  43. "The Book Lover by Ali Smith".
  44. (2009). "The children's hours : stories of childhood". Arcadia.
  45. Ali Smith. (28 May 2011). "Once upon a life: Ali Smith | Life and style". [[The Guardian]].
  46. "The Story of Antigone by Ali Smith".
  47. (2012-10-19). "The Manchester Sermon: Ali Smith, reviewed by Gemma Fairclough - The Manchester Review". The Manchester Review.
  48. Cohen, Leah Hager. (1 February 2013). "A Light to Read By". [[The New York Times]].
  49. Full text: ''Brick: a literary journal'' (Number 92, Winter 2014, pp. 9–27); extract online at Brickmag.com.
  50. "Untitled by Ali Smith".
  51. Cox, Sarah. (8 September 2015). "Novelist Ali Smith named Honorary Fellow". Goldsmiths, University of London.
  52. (2016). "Why Willows Weep". IndieBooks.
  53. "Day 1 - Ali Smith - UEA".
  54. "About".
  55. "Refugee Tales - Comma Press".
  56. "Ali Smith {{!}} The European Review of Books".
  57. Grimm, Oliver. (June 23, 2021). "Eine Revue, um die EU besser zu kritisieren".

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