The Inaugural Liberty Lecture with Ali Smith

As our first module, Publishing Contexts, was set to wrap up earlier this week, I’ve spent much of the past seven days asking myself, what is a book? On Monday, November 6^th, however, during the Inaugural Liberty Lecture held at Senate House, I found myself wondering, what is an author? Moreover, what can an author do to better the society in which they live and write?

I found my answer listening to Ali Smith, author of such popular novels as How to Be Both and Autumn and this year’s Liberty lecturer. Notably, Liberty is a U.K.-based human rights organization focused on bringing fairness, equality, and justice to British society. In the spirit of the organization, Ali Smith delivered an astounding speech regarding the nature of liberty and what can be done to ensure it. Ali Smith’s lecture was poetic, mesmerizing, and artfully delivered. She compared the quest for liberty to Alice’s tumble down the rabbit hole­—frustrating and often baffling—but her words were not without optimism. Her conclusion inspired hope for a society in turmoil, as she stated, ‘Liberty’s no phantom, it is a spirit, and it is real.’

Much of Ali Smith’s speech centered around art as a means of speaking truth, making others heard, and defending the notion of justice, and it is this idea that inspired an answer to my previous question. In addition to being an entertainer, an artist, and a creator of stories, Ali Smith made clear that an author is a voice. What’s more, an author is a voice with the power to speak up for others, to call attention to societal issues, and perhaps most so, to inspire liberty.

The second installment of Ali Smith’s highly anticipated Seasonal Quartet, Winter, is now available from Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Image provided via The Institute of English Studies