Granta 163: Best of Young British Novelists 5 review – more solipsism than state of the nation

The latest celebration of emerging literary talent brings thrills, charm and emotional punch to the page. But this new generation have taken an inward turn compared with the more worldly themes of bygone yearsEvery decade since 1983, an editor of the literary quarterly Granta has tasked a panel of writers and critics with naming the 20 best British novelists aged under 40. The first list, which included Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Pat Barker, William Boyd and Graham Swift, defined the nation’s literary fiction not just for a generation but a lifetime, at least for anyone young enough to be eligible for this year’s selection. Subsequent lists had star quality, too. In 1993, Hanif Kureishi and Alan Hollinghurst. In 2003 came Zadie Smith and Monica Ali, listed when Brick Lane was still a manuscript. The 2013 list spotlit Ross Raisin, Evie Wyld and David Szalay, who each went on to publish exceptional novels, while Naomi Alderman won the Women’s prize for The Power, now a hit TV series. If nobody talks them up as a golden generation, it probably says less about their calibre as writers and more about the diminishing clout of a marketing wheeze dreamed up when four-channel TV was still a novelty.The class of 2023 are a rangy bunch with some fantastic writing already under their belts. Eley Williams brings emotional punch to tickled wordplay. The slow-burn thrill of Eleanor Catton’s many-tentacled plotting. The tragicomic charm of... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-16 06:00:03 UTC ]

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‘Men need liberation too’: do we need more male novelists?

As a small press launches dedicated to new male fiction, authors including Anne Enright and Nikesh Shukla ask if men are really being pushed out of publishingJude Cook, author and publisher of Conduit BooksIn Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the languid Lord Henry announces: “There is... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-05-31 08:00:39 UTC ]
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The Bestselling LGBTQ Books of the Week

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Nahid Rachlin, Novelist Who Explored the Iranian Psyche, Dies at 85

One of the first Iranian novelists to write in English, she examined the clash between East and West. Her debut novel, “Foreigner,” provided insight into pre-revolutionary Iran. Continue reading at The New York Times

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Playing with words: why novelists are becoming video game writers – and vice-versa

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[ The Guardian | 2025-04-30 08:00:17 UTC ]
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New independent press to focus on male writers

Conduit Books will not ‘seek an adversarial stance … but the emphasis at first will be on ambitious, funny, political and cerebral fiction by men that is being passed by’A writer and critic has launched a new independent press that will focus on publishing books by male writers.Conduit Books,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2025-04-28 17:07:04 UTC ]
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8 Unforgettable Literary Fiction Reads by Marginalized Authors

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Mario Vargas Llosa dies at 89: Nobel laureate from Peru was the last of 'El Boom' novelists

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These YA Novelists Celebrate Queer, Fat Characters

Crystal Maldonado, Julie Murphy, and other authors discuss the importance of joyful representation. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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Who Needs Intimacy?

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Translator and Author Tim Mohr Dies

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Translator and Author Tim Mohr Dies at 55

Mohr, who translated such German novelists as Alina Bronsky, chronicled the Berlin music scene in a 2018 book, and helped bring to life a number of musicians’ memoirs, died at his home in Brooklyn on March 31. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

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Can the Classic Road Trip Novel Survive the Climate Crisis?

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Who Were the Women Novelists Who Really Inspired Jane Austen?

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Lit Hub Daily: February 18, 2025

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Giada Scodellaro’s debut Ruins, Child has won the 2024 Novel Prize.

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Why America is falling in love with romance bookstores

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