In a Britain in the near future, a totalitarian regime has taken over, and citizens, divided into Verifiables and Unverifiables, are under constant surveillance from cameras and their own cell phones. Siblings Bri and Rose are Unverifiables. One day, someone has painted a red line around their house, and they have to get away.
With Gliff, Ali Smith has written her darkest novel yet, a story in the same vein of classics such as Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Huxley’s Brave New World. In her characteristic playful and exuberant language, Smith show us how easily we can move from our contemporary society to Bri and Rose’s dystopia, and how much it takes to stand up to a totalitarian regime. Along the way, the siblings encounter a number of people who are trying to carve out a life for themselves outside of the strict confines of the regime, as well as a friendly horse, which is given the name Gliff.
Ali Smith are one of our leading contemporary authors. With her critically acclaimed Seasonal Quartet, she has demonstrated what literature can tell us about the society in which we live, while with Gliff, she warns us about where we are headed.
When Smith now visits the House of Literature, the event will take place in the University of Oslo’s Ceremonial Hall, and she will be joined by writer and literature professor Janne Stigen Drangsholt for a conversation about future dystopias, resistance and horses.
The conversation will be in English.
