Granta

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to Nico Walker, author of the novel Cherry. We discuss Nico Walker's essay ‘Mucker Play', published in Granta 170: Winners, which considers American football as a reflection of the country's violence, the intimate relationship between the military and sport, and how athletes cultivate their public image, from Deion Sanders to Jim Thorpe.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. His first novel will be published in 2025. Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. Thomas Meaney is the editor of Granta. 

Granta 170: Winners is out this week. In this episode, we speak to Declan Ryan about his essay on the British heavyweight boxing today, ‘The Hurt Business', which appears in the magazine's new sports issue. You can read the essay discussed in this episode here. Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Declan Ryan is the author of Crisis Actor, a poetry collection published with Faber in 2023. Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to the film director Wang Xiaoshuai, known for the films Beijing Bicycle (2001) and So Long, My Son (2019). We discuss Wang Xiaoshuai's thoughts on the porosity between literature and cinema, and the challenges facing independent filmmakers today. Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review. Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to Allen Bratton, whose short stories Barbarism and Honeymoon have been published online at granta.com. His debut novel Henry Henry was published in 2024.We discuss Shakespearean adaptations, the fine line between humour and cruelty and the legacy of the British aristocracy.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. His first novel will be published in 2025.Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta.

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to Alan Hollinghurst, author of seven novels including The Swimming-Pool Library, the Booker Prize-winning The Line of Beauty and Our Evenings, which was published in 2024. We discuss his new novel, writing from the outsider's perspective and cataloguing the chapters of queer life from the mid-century to now. Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review. Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to the novelist and essayist Rachel Kushner, author of the books The Mars Room, The Flamethrowers, Telex from Cuba and The Hard Crowd. Her latest novel, Creation Lake, will be published in September 2024.We discuss her story, ‘The True Depth of a Cave', which appeared in Granta 167: Extraction, as well as the mysteries of prehistory and the variance between abstract and mimetic art in fiction. Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review. Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta podcast we speak to the novelist and journalist Benjamin Kunkel, author of Indecision (2005) and co-founder of the journal n+1.We discuss his short story ‘Prairie Dogs' (Granta 167: Extraction), his return to writing fiction, involuntarily becoming a ‘Marxist public intellectual' and being politicised by literature. Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review. Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to the novelist Sheila Heti, author of the books How Should a Person Be?, Motherhood and Pure Colour. Her latest book, Alphabetical Diaries, was published in 2024.We discuss her new book, along with her interview with the academic Phyllis Rose that appeared in Granta 166: Generations. You can find all of Heti's contributions to the magazine here.Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review. Josie Mitchell is senior editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to the novelist and journalist Andrew O'Hagan, author of seven novels and several books of non-fiction. We discuss his short story, ‘The Sensitivity Reader' (Granta 166: Generations), and the new novel Caledonian Road (2024), both of which explore the value of challenging the established narrative as a journalist, and the capacity for fiction to offer different forms of truth.  You can read ‘The Sensitivity Reader' here.Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. His first novel will be published in 2024.Josie Mitchell is online editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to the novelist and critic Lauren Oyler, author of No Judgement (2024) and Fake Accounts (2024), about living in Berlin, the boundary between our private and public selves, and the trajectory of autofiction. We also discuss Oyler's essay, ‘Last Week at Marienbad', which appeared in Granta 165: Deutschland. You can read ‘Last Week at Marienbad' here.Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New Left Review, among other publications. His first novel will be published in 2024. Josie Mitchell is online editor at Granta. 

In this episode of the Granta Podcast, we speak to the novelist Brandon Taylor, author of Real Life (2020) and The Late Americans (2023), about naturalism, the future of fiction, and the connection between Émile Zola and The Sims.We also discuss Taylor's short story ‘Stalin, Lenin, Robespierre', which appeared in Granta 166: Generations.You can read ‘Stalin, Lenin, Robespierre' here.Follow these links to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In 2022 Jamaica Kincaid spoke to editor Josie Mitchell about childhood, the concept of memory and her early love of Paradise Lost.Jamaica Kincaid grew up on the island of Antigua. She began writing for the New Yorker and went on to publish many books, including the novel Annie John and the collection of stories At the Bottom of the River. A number of her books have recently been reissued, or are forthcoming, from Picador in the UK.

Last year Claire-Louise Bennett and editor Josie Mitchell talked about rereading, resisting homogenisation and committing to the process of unravelling. Claire-Louise Bennett is the author of Pond, a collection of short stories, and the 2021 novel Checkout 19.Read an extract of Bennett's novel here.

In 2022 Lynne Tillman and editor Josie Mitchell discussed the afterlife of novels, haunted houses and the sexual revolution. Lynne Tillman is the author of many books, including the 2006 novel American Genius: A Comedy and the 2014 essay collection, What Would Lynne Tillman Do?  Two of Tillman's early works are now published in the UK by Peninsula Press: Weird Fucks and Haunted Houses.Read an excerpt from Tillman's memoir Mothercare here. 

In 2022 Vanessa Onwuemezi spoke to editor Josie Mitchell about Pina Bausch's The Rite of Spring, sitting with strangeness and the joy of trying out new sounds on the page. Vanessa Onwuemezi is a writer and poet living in London, her story ‘At the Heart of Things' won the White Review Short Story Prize in 2019. Her debut story collection, Dark Neighbourhood, was published in 2021 by Fitzcarraldo Editions.Read ‘Cuba', a short story from Dark Neighbourhood, here.  

In 2022 Anthony Anaxagorou and editor Josie Mitchell talked about heritage, national identity and poetry that cannot keep still.Anthony is the author of several volumes of poetry, non-fiction and a collection of short stories. His latest book, Heritage Aesthetics, draws on family migratory histories between Cyprus and the UK to interrogate patriarchy, xenophobia and national divides.Purchase a copy of Anthony Anaxagorou's new poetry collection, Heritage Aesthetics, here. You can also read poems from his 2019 collection, After the Formalities, here. 

In 2022 Ayanna Lloyd Banwo spoke to editor Josie Mitchell about a fear of forgetting, Lapeyrouse Cemetery and our cultural traditions around death.Ayanna Lloyd Banwo is a writer from Trinidad and Tobago currently living in London. Her debut novel When We Were Birds was named one of the Observer's Best Debuts of 2022 and one of the Economist's Best Books of 2022.Read an excerpt from When We Were Birds here.

In 2022 Mary Gaitskill talked to editor Josie Mitchell about her fascination with the idea of hell, returning to past creative work and writing characters with different experiences from her own.Mary Gaitskill is the author of Bad Behavior; Two Girls, Fat and Thin; Because They Wanted To; Veronica; Don't Cry; The Mare; Somebody with a Little Hammer; and This is Pleasure. Her new book, The Devil's Treasure, is a hybrid work of criticism, memoir and mythography.Her essay ‘Lost Cat', first published in Granta 107, is available to read here.

In 2021 Eula Biss talked to editor Josie Mitchell on the distortions of capital, bartering with Pokémon cards and the conditions necessary for creativity. Eula Biss is the author of four books, including On Immunity and Notes from No Man's Land. Her most recent book, Having and Being Had, looks at our beliefs about class and owning property. Read an excerpt from Having and Being Had on granta.com. 

Last year Stephanie Sy-Quia spoke to online editor Josie Mitchell about modern cathedrals, telling her grandmothers' stories and the impulse to categorise. Stephanie Sy-Quia's debut poetry collection Amnion was selected as a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Her writing has appeared in the FT Weekend, the TLS, the Economist, the Spectator and TANK magazine, and has twice been shortlisted for the FT Bodley Head Essay Prize. You can read an excerpt from Amnion on granta.com. 

Last year Tice Cin spoke to Josie Mitchell about poetry, brutalist architecture and returning home. Tice Cin is an interdisciplinary artist from north London. Her debut novel Keeping the House has been longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. A DJ and music producer, she also hosts Homing Tunes, a show on Threads Radio. Get a copy of Keeping the House.  Read ‘Census', a poem by Gboyega Odubanjo, on granta.com.

In 2021 Anuk Arudpragasam spoke to Josie Mitchell about the influence of Thomas Bernhard, writing in the wake of war and his relationship to the English language. Arudpragasam was born in Colombo and currently lives between Sri Lanka and India. His debut novel, The Story of a Brief Marriage, won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. His second book, A Passage North, was since shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize.Read an excerpt from A Passage North at granta.com. 

Back in the early summer of 2020, the writer Kathryn Scanlan joined Josie Mitchell to talk about her story collection, The Dominant Animal. They discussed her precarious worlds, the drama of the sentence and working with the writer and editor Diane Williams.  ‘Fable', a story taken from The Dominant Animal , is available to read here. 

Joanna Kavenna joins Josie Mitchell to discuss Zed – a sci-fi dystopia exploring our fears about the psychological cost of surveillance capitalism. Early in 2020, newly under lockdown, they discussed the psychic threat posed by today's tech companies, the blurring of citizen and consumer, and the early optimism of cyberspace. You can read an excerpt from the novel on our website for free, and subscribers can also read ‘The Perfect Companion', an AI short story that journeys further into the world of Zed. 

Caleb Klaces joins Josie Mitchell to talk about about his debut novel, Fatherhood – his poet's account of becoming a father.Back at the beginning of the UK lockdown, they discussed parenting your kids at home, and talked about the expectations placed on fathers and the sense of community on offer to them.You can find poetry and short fiction by Caleb on our website.

Sophie Mackintosh speaks to editor Josie Mitchell about her new novel, Blue Ticket. They talk about what it means to be pregnancy-adjacent, the bloodthirsty aspects of motherhood, and letting the body have what it wants. You can find more fiction by Sophie Mackintosh on Granta.com, including ‘The Last Rite of My Body' and ‘The Weak Spot'.

Ottessa Moshfegh joined Josie Mitchell to talk about about her novel, Death in Her Name.They discuss the ‘perfect storm' trapping us inside with our Zoom-ready devices, the propaganda in the air, and the psychological effects of isolation on the elderly narrator of her novel.You can read an excerpt from Death In Her Name here. As well as more fiction from Ottessa on our website and in print.

Carmen Maria Machado discusses her new memoir, In the Dream House, with Josie Mitchell. They discuss memory as architecture, formal experimentation, and making space for queer narrative. Carmen is the author of Her Body and Other Parties. You can read more of her work, including the new story ‘The Lost Performance of the High Priestess of the Temple of Horror', from our Winter 2020 issue, here. 

Josie Mitchell talks to Momtaza Mehri about her pamphlet, Doing the Most with the Least, out with Goldsmiths Shorts. They discuss the value of self-interrogation, the significance of the Black Arts Movement and the limits to checking your privilege. You can read Momtaza's poetry and essays on our website: https://granta.com/contributor/momtaza-mehri/And her recent essay in the Guardian, ‘Anti-racism requires so much more than checking your privilege': https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/07/anti-racism-checking-privilege-anti-blackness

Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation, talks to editor Josie Mitchell about her new novel, Weather. They discuss pre-apocalypse warnings, the doomers among us and the draws of prepper culture in a world gone mad. You can read an interview between Jenny and Mark O'Connell, author of Notes from an Apocalypse, on our website: https://granta.com/in-conversation-oconnell-offill/ 

Sandra Newman is the author of the novels The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done, Cake, The Country of Ice Cream Star and four non-fiction books including the memoir Changeling. Her most recent novel The Heavens is published by Granta Books. She spoke to Lucy Diver about friendship, love, hope and how to write like an Elizebethan.

Lavinia Greenlaw: The Granta Podcast, Episode 24 by Granta Magazine

Maureen N. McLane reads from her book My Poets. My Poets begins its first chapter ‘proem, in the form of a Q&A’, which is what you hear at the beginning of the recording. The second part of the recording is from ‘My Elizabeth Bishop / My Gertrude Stein’, the fourth chapter in the book,

Kamila Shamsie is the author of seven novels and one book of non-fiction. Among many other accolades, Kamila is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and in 2013 was named a Granta Best of Young British Novelist. She joined us in the Granta offices for an interview about her new novel Home Fire, published by Bloomsbury. Home Fire was longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize.

In this episode of the Granta podcast, Max Porter, author of Grief is the Thing with Feathers reads ‘False Blood’ by Will Self. Diagnosed with a rare blood condition, Self attends weekly ‘venesections’ (the modern-day equivalent of bloodletting) which inspire morbid thoughts on addiction and disease. The story can be found in full on our website: https://granta.com/false-blood/ Will Self is the author of numerous novels, most recently Phone. In 1993 he was named as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. Max Porter is the author of Grief is the Thing With Feathers, which was shortlisted for the 2015 Guardian First Book Award and the 2015 Goldsmiths Prize, and won the 2016 International Dylan Thomas Prize.

In this episode of the Granta podcast, Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland, reads Kathleen Collins’s short story, ‘The Uncle’, taken from the collection Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? Kathleen Collins was a pioneer African-American playwright, film-maker, civil rights activist and educator. You can read more work by Kathleen Collins on our website: granta.com/whatever-happened-to-interracial-love/

In this episode of the Granta podcast, Josie Mitchell speaks with Andrea Stuart about her essay ‘Travels in Pornland’. They discuss the value of feminist porn, the importance of counter narratives and the challenges faced by feminist pornographers. The essay was first published in August 2016. You can read the essay in full on our website: https://granta.com/travels-in-pornland/

Online editor Luke Neima talks to George Saunders about his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo. They discuss the pressures on Abraham Lincoln during the civil war, the art of creating distinctive historical voices, verbal improv and writing the afterlife.

In this edition of the Granta podcast, editor Luke Neima talks to Diane Williams, the author of eight books of fiction and founder and editor of the distinguished literary annual NOON. Diane reads from her latest book, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, and discusses her approaches to writing and editing, the gatekeepers of literary publication and stitching.

For our final Granta Reads’ Halloween podcast, Rosalind Porter reads Carmen Maria Machado’s ‘The Husband Stitch’. The story was first published in 2015, and went on to be nominated for the Nebula and Shirley Jackson Award. Carmen Maria Machado’s debut short story collection, Her Body and Other Parties, is forthcoming from Graywolf Press in October 2017.

For the second episode of the Granta Reads’ Halloween series, Eleanor Chandler reads Darcey Steinke’s essay ‘Frankenstein’s Mother’, which explores the relationship between mother and monster. Darcey Steinke is the author of the novels Sister Golden Hair, Milk, Jesus Saves, Suicide Blonde and Up Through the Water, as well as the memoir Easter Everywhere. She lives in New York.

In this Halloween edition of the Granta podcast, Josie Mitchell reads Angela Carter’s 1980 short story, ‘Cousins’ – the first in a series of classic horror stories from our archive. ‘Cousins’ was later featured in Carter’s seminal Black Venus story collection with the title ‘Peter and the Wolf’, and forms part of her famous ‘wolf quartet’.

In this edition of the Granta Podcast, editor Ka Bradley speaks with Madeleine Thien about her book, Do Not Say We Have Nothing, which has recently been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. They talk about translating the sensation of music for a reader, the importance of writing about women of colour, and the Chinese conceptual framework of time.

In this edition of the Granta podcast we speak to Astrid Alben, who reads a selection from her book of poetry Plainspeak, discusses her work as a translator and as an editor of the interdisciplinary journal Pars, shares a poem by Valérie Rouzeau – translated from the French by Susan Wicks – and explains how she develops her poetic alter ego.

In our latest podcast, Joanna Walsh discusses the Irish Writing Boom with Sarah Davis-Goff of Tramp Press; Susan Tomaselli, editor of Gorse Journal; and Amy Herron of the Irish Writers' Centre. They touch on the culture and history of Ireland’s literary journals; short story culture; the fight against marketing departments and the work of fostering literary innovation.

Sally Rooney And Joanna Walsh In Conversation: The Granta Podcast, Ep. 94 by Granta Magazine

Author Dave Lordan reads his story, ‘Our Private Estate’, from the online edition of Granta 135: New Irish Writing.

Ireland has one of the world's most distinguished literary traditions. In Granta 135: New Irish Writing, we showcase contemporary Irish fiction, memoir, poetry and photography. For the launch of the issue, Granta and Foyles hosted Peggy Hughes, Sally Rooney, Lucy Caldwell and Sara Baume in a discussion about their work, the state of Irish writing and the place of technology in literature. Audio production by Adam Barr.

Last year we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, but the legacy of war and communism lives on in eastern Europe. In the new issue of Granta – No Man’s Land – Peter Pomerantsev writes about propaganda in Ukraine’s Donbas region, where pro-Russian activists battle with pro-Ukrainian, pro-democracy activists and Ukrainian nationalists, whilst Philip Ó Ceallaigh tells the devastating story of the Communist destruction of Old Bucharest. They joined us for the launch of the new issue at the Frontline Club in London on Wednesday 24th February. Both writers encounter people who are longing for a strong leader to bring back security and pride. They discussed whether, following the challenges to democratic structures in Russia, Hungary, and most recently Poland, eastern Europe’s new democracies are at risk. Chaired by author and journalist Oliver Bullough, who lived and worked in Russia from 1999 – 2006. He is author of two books about Russian history and politics: The Last Man in Russia and Let Our Fame Be Great. With: Peter Pomerantsev, the author of Nothing is True and Nothing is Possible, Adventures in Modern Russia. He is a senior fellow at the Legatum Institute, where he runs a project on contemporary propaganda and how to deal with it. Philip Ó Ceallaigh is the author of two collections of short stories, Notes from a Turkish Whorehouse and The Pleasant Light of Day. At present he is working on a book about the Jewish world of Eastern Europe and its destruction, as witnessed by its writers. Audio production by Adam Barr.

Neel Mukherjee and Patrick deWitt discuss their books, Undermajordomo Minor and The Lives of Others, subconscious influence, the power of the exclamation mark and love.

Victor LaValle reading 'Long Distance' from Granta 110: Sex.