An Evening with Sophia Smith Galer
Join the author behind Losing It, Sophia Smith Galer, for a discussion on her latest release, How To Kill a Language.
What do we lose—culturally, politically, and personally—when a language is silenced?
Every book + ticket comes with a copy of How To Kill a Language that Sophia will sign and dedicate on the day.
About How To Kill a Language
'Moving, beautiful and important' FINANCIAL TIMES
'Punchy and persuasive' SUNDAY TIMES
How to Kill a Language is an impassioned investigation into a hidden global crisis, and a call to speak, read and write the languages of our world, before it’s too late.
As Sophia Smith Galer’s Nonna lay dying, she realised it wasn’t just a beloved grandmother she was losing – it was the language she spoke, too. From Northern Italy, she spoke a dialët that Sophia, like so many children and grandchildren of migrants, can understand but can’t speak. With the death of the language, Sophia would lose a culture, a history, an inheritance – a whole world.
This tragedy reaches far beyond her family. Globally we are witnessing an unprecedented mass extinction event. By the end of this century, half of the world’s 7000 languages will be gone, killed by war, climate breakdown, migration, nationalism or neglect, along with the vital knowledge that they have sustained for centuries.
Award-winning journalist Smith Galer has journeyed across continents and generations to report from this disappearing world. From Ghana to Greece, Ecuador to Oman, California to the UK, she meets people experiencing this loss at first hand – but also campaigners and linguists who prove that a multilingual future is still possible. Her travels ultimately lead her back to where she began: to Italy, and the tiny mountainside village where the church bells still ring out for her Nonna.
About Sophia Smith Galer
Sophia Smith Galer is an award-winning journalist who has reported for the BBC and VICE News around the world.
She studied Spanish and Arabic at Durham University, and in 2022 British Vogue selected her as one of the 25 most influential women in the UK.