Zadie Smith

Award winning author, Zadie Smith, was born in Willesden to an Afro-Jamaican mother, Yvonne Bailey and an English father, Harvey Smith. Yvonne grew up in Jamaica and emigrated to England in 1969. Zadie attended local state schools and King’s College, Cambridge, where she studied English literature.

Her debut novel ‘White Teeth’, first published in 2000, is the multi-generational tale of multicultural London from 1974 up to the turn of the century. In an interview when discussing her book she described Willesden Green as an “extremely successful” example of how people of different ethnicities and beliefs can live, work and study together.

The book went on to achieve critical acclaim, winning the Whitbread Book Award and the Guardian First Book Award.

In 2021, Smith debuted her first play, The Wife of Willesden, which she wrote in recognition of her borough of Brent having been selected as the 2020 London Borough of Culture. This retelling of "The Wife of Bath’s Tale” from the book ‘The Cantebury Tales’, replaces the pilgrimage in Chaucer’s original tale, with a pub crawl set in contemporary London. The play was first shown at The Kiln Theatre in Kilburn, where the auditorium was transformed into a local London pub, complete with pub tables it the stalls.

Zadie Smith, November 2016, Courtesy: Chris Boland / www.chrisboland.com

Smith was just one of the cultural archetypes that the borough of Brent has produced and in her novel she delves into how the people of Willesden Green have come together, from a variety of backgrounds to weave the vibrant, cultural and artistic tapestry that is the ward of Willesden Green.

In 2002, White Teeth was adapted into a four-part TV series broadcast in the UK and with a star studded cast including Om Puri, Naomie Harris, Archie Panjabi, Geraldine James and James McAvoy amongst others. It was shot mainly in the Willesden Green and Cricklewood areas as well as the Caribbean and the Indian sub-continent.

Zadie Smith's home in London, has influenced a number of other works. Her 2012 novel ‘NW’, was set in the Kilburn area of north-west London, the title being a reference to the local postcode -NW6. NW was also adapted into a BBC television film of the same title.