Zadie Smith, born Sadie Smith on October 25, 1975, in London, is a celebrated English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, White Teeth (2000), was an instant success, becoming a best-seller and winning numerous awards. Smith has a rich literary career, with notable works including The Autograph Man, On Beauty, NW, and Swing Time, along with two collections of essays, Changing My Mind and Feel Free. Her literary achievements have been recognized early on; she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2002 and has been listed as one of Granta's 20 Best Young British Novelists in both 2003 and 2013.

Smith's White Teeth has garnered the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award, and the Guardian First Book Award. On Beauty was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and won the Orange Prize for Fiction, while NW was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. Beyond her writing, Zadie Smith serves as a tenured professor in the faculty of Creative Writing at New York University since September 2010, enriching the literary world not only with her works but also through her dedication to teaching.