Legit Lit: Granta

This is an unconventional Legit Lit post; I write this evening not about a recommended book but a literary magazine. For lovers of the written word, I can think of nothing more satisfying than an evening spent with an issue of Granta.

I first became acquainted with Granta when its editor John Freeman spoke at several literary events at Symphony Space. I was intrigued, but not spellbound. A few months later in an airport, however, I saw an issue sitting on the shelf of a bookstore I visited. I must have had a book with me to read on the flight that I wasn't too excited about because I bought the issue and devoured it. I immediately asked for a subscription for Christmas (thanks, Mom!) and am now happily leafing my way through my second issue.

Granta's history, I learned while doing a bit of research for this post, is rather fascinating. It began as a student periodical at Cambridge University in 1889 and continued successfully for almost a century in this vein. Notable contributors include A.A. Milne, Ted Hughes, and Sylvia Plath. When the student body lost interest and the publication fell on hard times in the 1970s, it was adopted by a group of postgraduates who reimagined and reissued the magazine as a showcase for "new writing," drawing from the work of authors outside of Cambridge. John Freeman is the first American editor of Granta, and the magazine is owned by Swedish Sigrid Rausing who heads one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the UK.

According to its mission statement, Granta believes "in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate, and make real." Pretty great, right? So far the issues I have read have included only short pieces but no poetry, and two of three have contained photo essays. Each issue is dedicated to a theme, such as medicine, family, travel, betrayal, etc. The brilliant little bursts of writing make for a nice break from the slow burn of a novel. I've been blown away by the quality of the pieces, which has been outstandingly high, and most stories leave me gazing out over the edge of the page after I finish them as I grapple with the important and interesting issues raised. 

Granta is known as a sort of crystal ball in the publishing world because of a list of British novelists to watch that it published in 1983. Since then, it has published other lists every few years and an astonishingly high number of its honorees have gone on to be recipients of, or runners-up for, prestigious literary prizes like the National Book Award. Granta has pointed to authors like Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro, Alan Hollinghurst, my beloved David Mitchell, Zadie Smith, and many other contemporary heavy hitters back when they were new on the scene. This is all very exciting, and I look forward to reading about a new novel that takes the book world by storm and remembering fondly that I read one of the author's early works in an issue of Granta. 

More and more, I find the short story to be one of my favorite iterations of the writing craft. Granta consistently delivers a premium selection right to my door on a quarterly basis, making me feel sure I'll be a subscriber for years to come.