🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith is an English author born in 1975. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Zadie has been voted one of the most influential people in Britain, at least with regards to popular culture. +Biography Zadie Smith’s mother is a Jamaican woman called Yvonne Bailey. Her father, Harvey Smith, is English. By the time her mother came to England in 1969, her father had already been married once. Born in Brent, a northwest London borough, Zadie had an unexpected interest in tap dancing when she was young. Her love for the arts only grew with time, Zadie taking an interest in musical theater and eventually taking to jazz as a singer to earn money while she was at university. Most of Zadie’s education came from local state schools like Hampstead and Malorees.
All Book Series by Zadie Smith
In the Wild
Latest in the series · book 3 of 3 · published 2025 Co-authored · Nick Laird
Stop What You're Doing and Read This!
Book 2 of 5 · published 2011 Co-authored · Michael Rosen,Jeanette Winterson,Mark Haddon
The BBC National Short Story Award 2010
Series opener · book 1 of 15 · published 2010 Anthology · Helen Oyeyemi,David Constantine,Sarah Hall,Aminatta Forna,Jon McGregor
The BBC National Short Story Award 2011
Book 2 of 15 · published 2011 Anthology · Alison MacLeod,M.J. Hyland,Jon McGregor,K.J. Orr,Sue MacGregor
The BBC International Short Story Award 2012
Book 3 of 15 · published 2012 Anthology · Miroslav Penkov,Carrie Tiffany,Deborah Levy,M.J. Hyland,Clive Anderson,Lucy Caldwell,Henrietta Rose-Innes,Julian Gough,Chris Womersley,Krys Lee,Adam Ross
The BBC National Short Story Award 2013
Book 4 of 15 · published 2013 Anthology · Lionel Shriver,Sarah Hall,Lavinia Greenlaw,Lucy Wood
The BBC National Short Story Award 2014
Book 5 of 15 · published 2014 Co-authored · Tessa Hadley,Lionel Shriver,Rose Tremain,Francesca Rhydderch,Alan Yentob
The BBC National Short Story Award 2015
Book 6 of 15 · published 2015 Anthology · Jeremy Page
BBC National Short Story Award 2016
Book 7 of 15 · published 2016 Anthology · Hilary Mantel,Claire-Louise Bennett,Lavinia Greenlaw,Tahmima Anam,Jenni Murray,K.J. Orr
The BBC National Short Story Award 2017
Book 8 of 15 · published 2017 Anthology · Joanna Trollope,Helen Oyeyemi,Jenni Fagan,Benjamin Markovits,Will Eaves,Cynan Jones
The BBC National Short Story Award 2018
Book 9 of 15 · published 2018 Anthology · Kerry Andrew,Sarah Hall,Ingrid Persaud,Nell Stevens,Kiare Ladner,Stig Abell
The BBC National Short Story Award 2019
Book 10 of 15 · published 2019 Anthology · Lucy Caldwell,Jo Lloyd,Lynda Clark,Jacqueline Crooks,Nikki Bedi
The BBC National Short Story Award 2020
Book 11 of 15 · published 2020 Anthology · Eley Williams,Sarah Hall,Caleb Azumah Nelson,Jan Carson,Jack Houston
The BBC National Short Story Award 2021
Book 12 of 15 · published 2021 Anthology · Danny Rhodes,James Runcie,Richard Smyth,Lucy Caldwell,Rory Gleeson,Georgina Harding
The BBC National Short Story Award 2022
Book 13 of 15 · published 2022 Anthology · Kerry Andrew,Elizabeth Day,Jenn Ashworth,Anna Bailey,Vanessa Onwuemezi,Saba Sams
The BBC National Short Story Award 2023
Book 14 of 15 · published 2023 Anthology · Kamila Shamsie,NickMulgrew,NaomiWood,CheriseSaywell,KPatrick,Reeta Chakrabarti
The BBC National Short Story Award 2024
Latest in the series · book 15 of 15 · published 2024 Anthology · Lucy Caldwell,Ross Raisin,Will Boast,Manish Chauhan,Paddy O’Connell,Vee Walker
The Best American Essays 2021
Latest in the series · book 11 of 11 · published 2021
Tales of Two Cities: The Best and Worst of Times In Today's New York
Book 10 of 11 · published 2014
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Zadie Smith?
Zadie Smith is an English author born in 1975. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Zadie has been voted one of the most influential people in Britain, at least with regards to popular culture. +Biography Zadie Smith’s mother is a Jamaican woman called Yvonne Bailey. Her father, Harvey Smith, is English.
Which Zadie Smith series should I start with?
The best place to start is The BBC National Short Story Award series, the earliest of Zadie Smith's multi-book series: it opens with The BBC National Short Story Award 2010 (2010) and runs to 15 books across 2010–2024, ending with The BBC National Short Story Award 2024 (2024). Zadie Smith's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has Zadie Smith written?
Zadie Smith has 56 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1999 and 2025. 27 of them belong to 3 named series — the largest being The BBC National Short Story Award series with 15 books — and 29 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should Zadie Smith's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Zadie Smith's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are The BBC National Short Story Award (2010–2024, 15 books), The Best American: Essays (2011–2021, 11 books) and Darkness (2024, 1 book).
How are Zadie Smith's books organised into series?
This guide splits Zadie Smith's 56 books into 3 named series and 29 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: The BBC National Short Story Award (15 books, 2010–2024); The Best American: Essays (11 books, 2011–2021); Darkness (1 book, 2024).