“I never attended a creative writing class in my life. I have a horror of them; most writers groups moonlight as support groups for the kind of people who think that writing is therapeutic. Writing is the exact opposite of therapy.”

Zadie Smith is a British novelist and essayist of the 2000s and 2010s. She is best known for her sharp, culturally observant fiction that explores identity, migration, and community, including novels like *White Teeth* and *On Beauty*. Her essays often examine literature, race, and urban life with wit and intellectual depth.