Novelist Zadie Smith named University of Calgary’s Distinguished Visiting Writer, will visit in February | Calgary Herald
British novelist Zadie Smith will give a reading at the University of Calgary as part of its Distinguished Visiting Writer program.
The author, whose debut novel White Teeth turned her into a literary star in 2000, will visit U of C’s MacEwan Hall on Feb. 11.
White Teeth, which followed the friendship and family life of a Bangladeshi and Englishman, was subject to a fierce bidding war before publication. It was an instant bestseller and received rave reviews and a Guardian First Book Award for the author.
She has since written three more novels, including 2002’s The Autograph Man and 2013’s The Embassy of Cambodia, about an Ivory Coast refugee working for a wealthy London couple as a nanny.
Smith teaches fiction writing at New York University.
Past authors in U of C’s Distinguished Visiting Writer program have included Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman and Michael Ondaatje.
Tickets for the event are free and will become available Oct. 21 at noon. Visit ucalgary.ca/cdwp/
