Granta

In this episode of the Granta Podcast we speak to Diane Williams, author of eleven books of fiction, including the short story collection I Hear You’re Rich.

We discuss the four short stories Diane Williams contributed to the summer issue, Granta 172: Badlands, as well as her various collections, her love of surprise in fiction and the porosity between her identity as a writer and an editor.

Leo Robson is a cultural journalist w...

In this episode of the Granta Podcast we speak to Tao Lin, the author of ten books, including Leave Society and Taipei.

We discuss two of Tao Lin’s recent essays, ‘My Spiritual Evolution’, and ‘Gian’, which appeared in Granta 171: Dead Friends, as well as the effects of psychedelics and the possibilities of reincarnation.

Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, a...

In this episode of the Granta Podcast we speak to Susie Boyt, the author of seven novels, most recently Loved and Missed, and the memoir My Judy Garland Life.

We discuss Susie Boyt’s short story, ‘All Being Well’, from Granta 171: Dead Friends, and consider the function of ghosts, Henry James, and how to be mourned.

Leo Robson is a cultural journalist whose work has appeared in the London Review of Books, the New Yorker, and the New ...

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 h...

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. 

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Declan Ryan is the author of Crisis Actor, a poetry collection published with Fab...

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 journal...

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, ...

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...

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...

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...

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 l...

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 trut...

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.

Follo...

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.

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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 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...

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 ‘Cu...

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 An...