Cambridge Literary Festival: Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith returns to the festival with her exhilarating new essay collection Dead and Alive, focusing her dazzling skills on the subjects that have recently captured her attention.

From literary memorials for writers we’ve lost, to trips to the movies, Glastonbury and Kilburn High Road, this is a collection about everything that makes life fizz – love, loss, culture and politics. Comprising 32 essays, 12 of them previously unpublished. Throughout this thrilling collection, Zadie Smith shows us once again her unrivaled ability to think through, critically and humanely,  some of the most urgent preoccupations and tendencies of our troubled times.

Come and share in Zadie’s insightful and compassionate view of the world.

Note: This event was originally part of Cambridge Literary Festival's Winter Season 2025, and has been rescheduled to the Spring Festival. Tickets for the November 2025 date are still valid for the new date in April.