Ali Smith

Ali Smith is a highly acclaimed Scottish author, playwright, and journalist. She is best known for her work as a fiction author, with notable works including "The Accidental," which won the 2005 Whitbread Novel of the Year, "Girl Meets Boys," which was the Diva magazine readers’ choice Book of the Year, and "How to Be Both," which was the winner of the 2014 Goldsmiths Prize and of the Novel Award in the 2014 Costa Book Awards.

Smith was born in Inverness, Scotland in 1962 to working-class parents and was raised in a council house in Inverness. She studied at the University of Aberdeen and then at Newnham College, Cambridge for a PhD that she never finished. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Smith worked as a lecturer at the University of Strathclyde. However, she fell ill with chronic fatigue syndrome and was forced to give up her job to focus on her writing. She now lives in Cambridge with her partner, filmmaker Sarah Wood.

In addition to her work as a fiction author, Smith has also written for various publications such as The Guardian, The Scotsman, and the Times Literary Supplement. She is openly gay and has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2009, she donated the short story "Last" to Oxfam's 'Ox-Tales' project, and in 2015, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her services to literature.

Smith's work often explores themes of time, identity, and art, and she is known for her experimental and innovative writing style. She has been praised for her ability to combine highbrow and lowbrow culture in her work, and for her ability to appeal to both mainstream and academic audiences. She is also known for her engagement with political and social issues, and for her ability to incorporate these themes into her work in a subtle and nuanced way. Overall, Smith is a highly respected and influential figure in contemporary literature.