Ali Smith on the books that shaped her reading life

Ali Smith has spoken about the books and writers that shaped her reading, saying a recent encounter with Henry James’s The Golden Bowl once had her running down her garden path shouting out loud to her partner: “Sarah! Sarah! The golden bowl is broken!” She recalled teaching herself to read at age three from the labels on Beatles 45s, remembering the moment she recognised the words “I” and “Feel” and “Fine” and later worked out “Parlophone”.

Her favourite childhood book was Charlotte’s Web, which she championed in primary six in Inverness despite a teacher, Sister Vincent of St Joseph’s, removing Enid Blyton from the class library and arguing: “No. Because animals speak in it, and in reality animals don’t speak.” Smith said she recently reread Charlotte’s Web and was moved to tears, describing it as “terrific.

Radiant. Humble.” As a teenager she discovered Liz Lochhead’s Memo for Spring after babysitting for her English teacher, Ann McKay; Smith said the slim, spine‑less book, written in Scottish English close to her own, filled her with excitement and hope. She has also cited Muriel Spark and Toni Morrison as writers who continually inspire her, and said she rereads Simone de Beauvoir and Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Smith said she discovered Vladimir Nabokov, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Henry James later in life. She is currently reading Liadan Ní Chuinn’s Every One Still Here and called two of its stories among her favourites ever.

Key Topics

Culture, Ali Smith, Inverness, Henry James, Charlotte's Web, Liz Lochhead