On Nov. 8, The Kenyon Review awarded the annual Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement (KRALA) to Zadie Smith, author of White Teeth and On Beauty. Smith is the 21st recipient and was warmly received at The Kenyon Review’s gala and fundraiser, which was hosted at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Manhattan.  

Founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, the magazine is hailed as one of the most reputable literary journals in the country. In its early years, The Kenyon Review published the likes of Dylan Thomas, Flannery O’Connor and T.S. Eliot. After shuttering doors for a decade due to funding difficulties, President Philip Hardin Jordan Jr. and Kenyon Professors of English Fred Turner, Ron Sharp and William Klein steered the magazine towards better days. For the past quarter of a century, The Kenyon Review has continued to publish the leading creative minds of our time. 

The KRALA was first awarded in 2002 during Professor Emeritus of English David Lynn’s time as editor. Since then, the magazine has celebrated writers such as Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates and Ian McEwan. According to The Kenyon Review’s website, the award “celebrates writers for the courage of their vision, their unparalleled imagination, and for the beauty of their art.” 

The magazine hosts frequent workshops for adults and young writers, in addition to their Fellowships and Associates program. The KRALA gala is a primary fundraiser for these programs. Editor of The Kenyon Review Nicole Terez Dutton emphasized the wide reaching impact of the fundraiser in an email to the Collegian. “The funds raised at the gala support our fellowship program and provides scholarships for high school students and adults to attend KR’s writing workshops in person and online… Our ability to provide scholarships allows us to focus on individuals and to bring the strongest, most diverse and talented cohorts to campus each year,” she wrote. 

This year’s gala and fundraiser proved especially successful. According to Trustee Matt Winkler ’77 P’13 H’00, co-founder of Bloomberg News, the event’s fundraiser broke records and raised substantial funds to support a new generation of writers. “While we still await designated proceeds from the KRALA sponsors and the Friday auction of scholarships, I am confident as chair of the KR Development Committee that it can be accurately reported that the 2024 KRALA, assuming all pledges are met, set a record, totaling more than $650,000 this year for the Kenyon Review endowment, KR Fellows and fully funded scholarships for students, who otherwise would never get the chance to learn in the Kenyon Review community,” Winkler wrote in an email to the Collegian. 

During the gala, Smith received her award with humility. In her opening remarks, Smith referenced the recent results of the U.S. presidential election in relation to her award: “It seems to be my destiny to accept literary awards at times of world historical disaster. If I was superstitious, I might conclude it was God’s way of teasing me, though Lord knows I need no reminders of the relative insignificance of my work.” Rather than regaling the audience on her own works and accomplishments, Smith devoted her 10-minute speech to hailing another writer: Flannery O’Connor. In particular, Smith discussed O’Connor’s short story “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” which was published by The Kenyon Review in 1953. 

Throughout her speech, Smith reflected on the relevance of O’Connor’s short story for understanding our world, one fraught with “fascists” out for their own gain, and vulnerable people “dependent on the mercy of others.” In her closing words, Smith advised attendees to heed the warnings of O’Connor’s story and to remember to transcend their own worries. “We will not fall into fits of self-pity, or if we do, we will remember to go further along the road until we reach self-recrimination, too. And we must try, above all, to attend to the afflicted, to the truly vulnerable, even if our minds are on our own leaky roofs and broken cars,” she said. 

Attendees were impressed by Smith’s humility and the wisdom imparted in her words. Kenyon Review Fellow Jennifer Galvão reflected on Smith’s speech in an email to the Collegian: “I thought it was really graceful and characteristic that Zadie Smith chose to accept The Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement by speaking about another writer entirely. … While we were gathered to honor her, I think Zadie Smith gave everyone in attendance a great gift with her speech.” Winkler noted how pertinent Smith’s words were for such a divisive time. “Zadie Smith’s address … is characteristically wise and sobering at a point when integrity, commitment and gratitude seem scarce,” he said.