Dead and Alive

*A WATERSTONES PAPERBACK OF THE YEAR 2026*

An illuminating new essay collection from one of the most distinctive, exciting and acclaimed writers of her generation, Zadie Smith

‘Zadie Smith is a wonderful essayist. She is a natural. She writes as she thinks, and she thinks crisply and exactly’ – Tessa Hadley, Guardian

In this keenly awaited new collection, Zadie Smith brings her unique skills as an essayist to bear on a range of subjects which have captured her attention in recent years.

She takes an exhilaratingly close look at artists Toyin Ojih Odutola, Kara Walker and Celia Paul. She invites us along to the movies, to see and to think about Tár, and to Glastonbury to witness the ascendance of Stormzy. She takes us on a walk down Kilburn High Road in her beloved North West London and invites us to mourn with her the passing of writers Joan Didion, Martin Amis, Hilary Mantel, Philip Roth and Toni Morrison. She considers changes of government on both sides of the Atlantic – and the meaning of ‘the commons’ in all our lives.

Throughout this thrilling collection, Zadie Smith shows us once again her unrivalled ability to think through critically and humanely some of the most urgent preoccupations and tendencies of our troubled times.

• Publication date: 29 October 2026
• Page count: 352
• Dimensions: Height 195 mm; Width 127 mm; Thickness 24 mm
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• ISBN-13: 9781405972499