World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Ali Smith

アリ・スミス

Ali Smith

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1962-08-24 （Inverness, Scotland）
Nationality
Scottish
Languages
English
Residence History
Inverness (birthplace) → Cambridge (residence) → Edinburgh (former residence)

Career

Occupations
Author, Playwright, Academic, Journalist
Active Years
1986-
Memberships
Royal Society of Literature (Fellow), Goldsmiths, University of London (Honorary Fellow)
Influenced By
Virginia Woolf, Muriel Spark, Margaret Atwood
Influenced

Education

University of Aberdeen
English language and literature
Degree: BA (Senior Honours)
Period: 1980–1985
Year of Graduation: 1985
Country: United Kingdom
Came top of her class in 1984; won university poetry prize.
Newnham College, University of Cambridge
PhD studies in American and Irish modernism
Period: 1985–1990
Country: United Kingdom
Did not complete PhD, left to focus on writing.

Awards

Booker Prize (shortlisted)
2001
Work: Hotel World
Organization: Man Booker Prize
Result: Shortlisted
Encore Award
Organization: Encore Award
Result: Won
Costa Book Awards (Novel)
2014
Work: How to Be Both
Category: Novel
Organization: Costa Book Awards
Result: Won
Goldsmiths Prize
2014
Work: How to Be Both
Organization: Goldsmiths Prize
Result: Won
Women's Prize for Fiction
2015
Work: How to Be Both
Organization: Women's Prize for Fiction
Result: Won
Hawthornden Prize
2012
Work: There But For The
Organization: Hawthornden Prize
Result: Won
Europese Literatuurprijs
2019
Work: Spring
Organization: Europese Literatuurprijs
Result: Won
Orwell Prize
2020
Work: Summer
Organization: Orwell Prize
Result: Won
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
2015
Organization: UK Honours (New Year Honours)
Result: Appointed
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL)
2007
Organization: Royal Society of Literature
Result: Elected
Bodley Medal
2024
Organization: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
Result: Awarded
Honorary D.Litt (Newcastle University)
2019
Organization: Newcastle University
Result: Awarded

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Free Love and Other Stories

1995 Short story collection

Debut short story collection exploring everyday life and relationships with wit and keen observation.

RelationshipsEveryday lifeMemory

Hotel World

2001 Novel

An experimental novel told from multiple perspectives, set around a hotel, exploring life, death and connection.

DeathCommunityMultiplicity of voices

How to Be Both

2014 Novel (experimental)

A novel published in two different reading orders; intertwines art, identity and the fluidity of time.

ArtIdentityTime

Autumn

2016 Novel

A meditation on contemporary society and memory, mixing political and personal themes.

MemoryPoliticsPassage of time

Spring

2019 Novel

Part of a seasonal sequence; uses personal narratives to touch on broader social issues.

ChangeCommunityHistory

Summer

2020 Novel

A volume in the seasonal series reflecting on emotions and relationships around the pandemic era.

IsolationDisruption of everyday lifeEmpathy

Companion Piece

2022 Novel

Continues the seasonal/reflection series, considering reading, time and community.

ReadingConnectionReflection

Gliff

2024 Novel

One of the recent novels; described in public sources.

ContemporaneityPlay with language

Bibliography

  • Free Love and Other Stories (1995)
  • Like (1997)
  • Hotel World (2001)
  • The Accidental (2005)
  • Girl Meets Boy (2007)
  • There But For The (2011)
  • Artful (2012)
  • How to Be Both (2014)
  • Autumn (2016)
  • Winter (2017)
  • Spring (2019)
  • Summer (2020)
  • Companion Piece (2022)
  • Gliff (2024)

Adaptations

  • Lyric collaboration with the band Trashcan Sinatras

Style & Themes

Literary Style
ExperimentalPostmodern narrationWitty prose
Recurring Motifs
Time and seasonsMemoryArt and storytelling

Health

  • Chronic fatigue syndrome
    1990年代初頭
    Caused her to leave a university lecturing post and return to Cambridge to recuperate.

Legacy

Ali Smith is an internationally acclaimed contemporary British writer known for experimental and sensitive narrative voice. She has won and been shortlisted for numerous major prizes and serves publicly through lectures and literary organizations.

Academic Societies

  • Royal Society of Literature

Archives

  • Bodleian Library (associated materials)
  • National Library of Scotland (possible related materials)

In Popular Culture

  • Has collaborated with musicians, providing lyrics and intersecting with music.

Quotes

  • Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting.
    Source: Sebastian Barry (2016, quoted in press profiles) (2016)

Trivia

  • Provided lyrics for the song "Half An Apple" in collaboration with Trashcan Sinatras.
  • Partner is filmmaker Sarah Wood.