London Review Bookshop Podcast Ali Smith & Sarah Wood: Gliff in the Spruce Forest
Dec 3, 2025
Ali Smith, an award-winning novelist celebrated for her genre-bending works, joins filmmaker Sarah Wood to explore her latest books. They discuss the transformative effect of Edvard Munch's art on Smith's writing, especially how themes of mortality permeate her works. Wood and Smith delve into how art facilitates conversation and reflection, while contemplating the impact of technology on memory and experience. Additionally, Smith reveals plans for a Munch-inspired fiction and an upcoming exhibition, intertwining literary creation with visual art.
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Working With Tiny Reproductions
- Ali Smith recounts sitting for weeks with tiny reproductions of Munch's Dark Spruce Forest and hearing a mother's voice guide her observations.
- The imagined dialogue led her to explore etymology, painting details, and deep personal associations with Munch's work.
Munch Forces Structural Honesty
- Munch strips art to mortality and fruitfulness, forcing writers to drop structural subterfuge.
- Ali Smith says this clarity shaped Glyph's bare, direct structure and truth-telling impulse.
Portable Art And Deep Time
- Ali Smith tells a family road-trip story visiting caves and a portable carved rib bone with a horse etched on it.
- The scene connects deep time, portable art, and her young sister's single-word response: “Horse.”
