I'm very attracted to exile literature - particularly Nabokov - exactly because the idea of being away from home for any serious length of time is so inconceivable to me. Zadie Smith attractexilehome Change image and share on social
You can't state difference and also state equality. We have to state sameness to understand equality. Zadie Smith differenceequalitysameness Change image and share on social
Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you. Zadie Smith importantpeopleprotect Change image and share on social
I read Carver. Julio Cortazar. Amis's essays. Baldwin. Lorrie Moore. Capote. Saramago. Larkin. Wodehouse. Anything, anything at all, that doesn't sound like me. Zadie Smith amisbaldwincapote Change image and share on social
My life is black and white and mixed. My mother's a Rastafarian, my dad was a short white guy - it's not an affectation. It's also the lives of millions of people throughout the world. Zadie Smith affectationblackdad Change image and share on social
I don't take notes. I don't have any notebooks. I keep on trying to do that because it seems like a very writerly thing to do, but my mind doesn't work that way. I tend to get the idea for a novel in a big splash. Zadie Smith bigideamind share on social
It's difficult to tell the truth about how a book begins. The truth, as far as it can be presented to other people, is either wholly banal or too intimate. Zadie Smith banalbeginbook Change image and share on social
The roots of rap are originally ghetto-ised or extremely working class. So when you're an artist who's making something which isn't how its mainstream appearance should be, there's always these strange questions of authenticity and what you have to do to be 'real' as a rapper. Zadie Smith appearanceartistauthenticity share on social
Don't confuse honours with achievement. Zadie Smith achievementconfusehonour Change image and share on social
Without the balancing context of everyday life, all you have is the news, and news by its nature is generally bad. Zadie Smith badbalancecontext Change image and share on social
