Who is one of the photographer's favorite authors, and how does he feel when they meet in the novel, Open Water?

The photographer loves literature and often cites his favorite Black authors. He is so overwhelmed when he meets author Zadie Smith that he cannot accurately express what her writing means to him. This introduces the fact that race is an important part of culture. Though the photographer's family originated in Ghana and Smith has only a tenuous connection to that region, they share other similarities that make theirs a shared culture.