Ali Smith

By Alice Bennett

One of the most acclaimed writers of contemporary British literature, Ali Smith has produced a body of work that spans novels, short stories, plays, poetry, essays and journalism. Renowned for both her experiments with form and her engagement with the social, political and ethical questions of the present day, Smith has become a major literary figure who speaks seriously and publicly about the power of art and the responsibilities of the artist.

Through detailed attention to Smith's wide-ranging body of literary work, from her early plays and numerous uncollected short stories to the serial forms of her most recent novels, this book traces the development of thematic preoccupations and formal innovations across the author's career. Offering a concise and accessible account of Smith's life and work, it situates her writing in the historical and literary contexts of the turn of the twenty-first century. Alice Bennett identifies an enduring interest in writing as a form of labour within Smith's work, showing how she returns repeatedly to questions of artistic value, authorship, and the work of writing. Taking literary labour as its point of departure, the book presents Smith as an author in the process of reconceptualising the relationship between the writer and her work.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1807813851
• ISBN13: 9781807813857
• Release Date: May 2027
• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Length: 112 Pages