One of the first few literary works to come out of the COVID-19 lockdown period is a collection of essays by English novelist, and essayist, Zadie Smith, titled 'Intimations'.
The book is a collection of six short new essays written by her during the lockdown period. In this slim volume, the author explores ideas and questions that this unprecedented health crisis has raised and tries to analyze how to submit to this'new reality' or how to resist it.
Intimations also go into the depths of suffering, and attempts at understanding relative sufferings, the relationship between time and work, what people and relationships mean in the time of isolation? What is the ratio of contempt to compassion in a crisis? When an unfamiliar world arrives, what does it reveal about the world that came before it?
Smith reflects on all the many things that happened to our world in this short span of time, and what might come next. Intimations is currently being produced and will be published on July 28, 2020, as an Ebook. It will also come as an audiobook, read by Smith herself on August 6, as well as a Penguin paperback.
The author has said that she will donate her royalties from the sale of intimations to charity. Simon Prosser, publisher of Hamish Hamilton, bought British and Commonwealth volume rights, including serial and audio, from Georgia Garrettat RCW. Talking about the book Prosser said, ‘a work of art and an act of love, intimations is a gift – an essential book in extraordinary times.’
Smith debuted as a novelist in 2000 with the magnificent novel, white teeth which immediately found its place on the best seller’s list and won her many accolades. After that, she had written many novels such as The Autograph Man (2002), On Beauty (2005), and several essays. She also penned two collections of short stories – Martha and Hanwell (2005)and Grand Union (2019). Smith is currently a professor of Creative Writing at NYU.
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