Close up: Ali Smith

Scottish author Ali Smith is considered one of Europe’s most innovative literary voices. With warmth, humor, and intellectual playfulness, she explores themes of time, identity, and community—and asks what happens to the human being when society retreats into fear and distrust. Through her acclaimed Seasonal Quartet—Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer—Smith captured the spirit of a Europe marked by Brexit, migration, and political unrest. In her latest novel, Gliff, she continues to explore questions of freedom, community, and the power of language in a time when the boundaries between people are constantly shifting. In this conversation, the audience is offered an intimate encounter with Ali Smith’s literary universe, where reflection, play, and profound human insight meet.