Zadie Smith: Dead and Alive

Zadie Smith is coming to St George's Bristol on Monday 2 November, for a talk that draws on her new book of essays, Dead and Alive. It's a bit of a wide-ranging one: she'll be talking about the political and cultural shifts shaping Britain today, and the conversation pulls from the cinema to Glastonbury, from Kilburn High Road in North West London to the passing of writers like Joan Didion, Martin Amis, Hilary Mantel, Philip Roth and Toni Morrison. Along the way she considers political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic and the meaning of 'the commons'.

If you're not already familiar with her, Smith is one of Britain's best-known novelists. She's written six acclaimed novels, among them White Teeth, which won universal critical acclaim and was made into a Channel 4 drama series, and On Beauty, which was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize and won the 2006 Orange Prize for fiction. She's also published three essay collections and a short-story collection, so this sits right in her wheelhouse. The evening closes with an audience Q&A, so there's a chance to ask your own questions rather than just listening.

It's in the main hall at St George's Bristol on Great George Street, starting at 7.00pm. Tickets start from £25, with a 9% booking fee on top for online and phone bookings and a £2.50 postage fee where applicable. It's suitable for ages 14 and over.