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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Are these the most influential novelists of 2023?

This week, TIME magazine published its list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2023. And . . . it’s surprisingly literary! I mean, it’s not that literary, but considering that the TIME editors typically limit themselves to a single novelist among the 100, books seem to be coming up in the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-14 15:34:40 UTC ]
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Here is the Granta 2023 Best of British Novelists list.

A new drop of choice up-and-coming novelists has arrived on the morning tide. Granta magazine has announced its 2023 Best of British Novelists list, geared to future stars, including picks from Sigrid Rausing, Rachel Cusk, Helen Oyeyemi, Tash Aw, and Brian Dillon. The team picked a host of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-04-13 13:57:54 UTC ]
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Granta reveals its pick of future star British novelists

The journal’s once-in-a-decade selection of the best fiction writers under 40 has broadened its selection of 20 to include authors who ‘regard the UK as their home’Granta magazine’s Best of British Novelists list, which hails the literary stars of the future, has this year expanded to include... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-13 07:00:37 UTC ]
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On Writing ‘Blind Bitter Happiness’

‘When I was put on Granta’s first Best of Young British Novelists list in 1983, no novel of mine had been published.’ The post On Writing ‘Blind Bitter Happiness’ appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2023-04-12 15:52:21 UTC ]
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Hay Festival 2023

Hay Festival is the world’s leading festival of ideas across literature, bringing readers and some of the brightest thinkers of our time together to inspire, examine and entertain. This international celebration of literature, music, and the arts is set to take place in the stunning Welsh... Continue reading at British Council global

[ British Council global | 2023-04-11 14:44:07 UTC ]
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On Literary Celebrity

Caryl Phillips on being chosen as a Best of Young British Novelists in 1993 and the nascent culture of literary celebrity. The post On Literary Celebrity appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2023-04-06 11:41:47 UTC ]
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On Judging Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists

A.L. Kennedy on being chosen for, and judging Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists. The post On Judging <em>Granta</em>’s Best of Young British Novelists appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2023-04-06 11:32:41 UTC ]
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On the Anxieties of Translation

Ned Beauman on his translation into Assamese, and where being named one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists took him. The post On the Anxieties of Translation appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2023-04-06 11:24:19 UTC ]
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Catherine Lacey: ‘That constant nervous Twitter energy repels me’

The American novelist, whose latest work is a fake biography of an avant-garde artist, on growing up in Mississippi and why her fiction has ‘never actively involved cellphones or the internet’Catherine Lacey, 37, is the author of three previous novels, including The Answers, currently being... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-01 17:00:01 UTC ]
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Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists

‘The issue was the first of its kind. Trust me, it said. I know what I am talking about. These young writers are the future of literature. Watch. History will prove me right.’ A history of the list, with reflections from Bill Buford and other editors. The post <em>Granta</em>’s... Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2023-03-21 19:02:26 UTC ]
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14 Books Coming in March

A haunting horror novel set a century ago in the American West, Eleanor Catton’s first novel in a decade, a Ukrainian war diary and much more. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-03-01 10:00:54 UTC ]
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In Praise of the Campus Novel: Daisy Alpert Florin on Fiction and Self-Discovery

What is it about campus novels that makes us love them so? The campus has inspired many novelists over the years: Michael Chabon, Kazuo Ishiguro, Curtis Sittenfeld, Elif Batuman, Nabokov, to name just a few. Readers love these stories, too; “the campus novel” has become its own literary... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-14 09:53:34 UTC ]
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Attention: a new Jesmyn Ward novel is coming this fall.

Lovers of gorgeous prose and ghost-soaked literary fiction rejoice: two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward’s next novel officially has a release date. Let Us Descend, Ward’s first novel in five years (since 2017’s Sing, Unburied Sing) will be published by Scribner on October 3. The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-01-27 15:09:45 UTC ]
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Meet the Champion of Debut Authors

If you are a debut author or a literary fiction and nonfiction stan, you’ve likely heard of Debutiful. Adam Vitcavage launched the podcast and website dedicated to highlighting the work of debut authors in January 2019. It has since become a beacon in the literary community, helping over 100,000... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2023-01-18 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Daniel Torday on Why There Are No Acknowledgements in His Latest Novel

I kind of love acknowledgement pages. When I was trying to find an agent for my first novel, I would go to the local Borders (it was a lifetime ago) open to them often to discover which agents and editors novelists worked with, which MFA programs they’d attended, who their early readers were. My... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-01-18 09:56:43 UTC ]
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Appreciation: Russell Banks was a giant rooting for the underdogs

Russell Banks, who has died at age 82, carried on the legacy of great American novelists probing big themes through the small lives of heroic underdogs. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-01-09 21:54:28 UTC ]
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Wild Worlds: SFF Books By Unexpected Writers

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[ Book Riot | 2022-12-20 11:35:00 UTC ]
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How Jane Austen Almost Walked Away From Writing

If you’re a literary genius, you’ve got it easy—right? Wrong. Even Jane Austen, indisputably one of the greatest novelists in the English language, spent years struggling to be published and became so dispirited that there were moments when she almost walked away. The story begins with an... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-11-18 09:54:04 UTC ]
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New audiobook platforms are launched to rival Amazon’s Audible

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[ The Guardian | 2022-10-03 18:09:30 UTC ]
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Hilary Mantel, celebrated author of Wolf Hall, dies aged 70

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[ The Guardian | 2022-09-23 11:29:23 UTC ]
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