Zadie Smith Interview: On Shame, Rage and Writing

Zadie Smith Interview: On Shame, Rage and Writing from Louisiana Channel on Vimeo.

Louisiana Channel

“Writing is all shame.” Zadie Smith – often referred to as “the superstar of British literature” – here talks about how shame can be used to “propel you on to something,” and why one must try to understand where people’s rage is coming from.

On the subject of ‘shame’, Smith feels that there is a positive element to it, as being shameless is very dangerous: “In America, our president at the moment is a shameless person.” She finds that shame can even be productive and that writing is an entirely shameful practice: “Who are you to write 400 pages about anything? Why should anybody have to read them? Every moment of it is shameful.” In continuation of this, revisiting your early work isn’t an easy thing for her: “It always feels quite distant, partly because when you’re writing it’s such an obsessive thing, and then when you’re done it’s like pushing something out of your body you don’t want to be involved with anymore.” Moreover, as “writing is wonderfully solitary” and many writers are quite introvert, it is the act of performing that prevents them from excelling in other things that they may be good at: “I think writing gives the most possibility of improvement. I was never going to be Stevie Wonder, no matter how hard I tried, but with writing you can get better.”

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If there is someone I feel deeply connected with, regarding core values, it will be her.

She is my kind of woman, really.