Navigating Silence and Self-Discovery

Zadie Smith reads her story “The Silence,” from the July 7 & 14, 2025, issue of the magazine. Smith, a winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Audible Literary Service Award, among others, is the author of two short-story collections and six novels, including “NW,” “Swing Time,” and “The Fraud,” which was published in 2023.