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Granta

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Granta
PublisherSigrid Rausing
Total circulation
(12)		46 831
Founded1989
CountryEngland
LanguageEnglish
This entry is on the literary magazine and publisher. For the stretch of the river known as Granta, see River Cam.

Granta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom.

History

Granta was founded in 1889 by students at Cambridge University as "The Granta". It was started as a periodical featuring student politics, badinage and literary efforts and was named after the river that runs through the town. An early editor of the magazine was R. P. Keigwin, the England cricketer and Danish scholar.

In this form the magazine had a long and distinguished history. The magazine published juvenilia of several writers who later became well known, including: Michael Frayn; Ted Hughes; A. A. Milne; Sylvia Plath; and Stevie Smith.

Rebirth

During the 1970s the publication encountered financial difficulties, and increasing levels of student apathy, and as a result had to be rescued by a group of interested postgraduates. It was relaunched in 1979 as a magazine of "new writing" aimed both at writers and at a wider audience than its original one in Cambridge. Bill Buford (who wrote Among the Thugs originally as a project for the journal) was the editor for its first 16 years in the new incarnation; Granta has been edited by Ian Jack since 1995. As of September 2004, its circulation was 46,831.

It now publishes, approximately quarterly, a distinctive mix of:

  • fiction
  • personal history
  • reportage and inquiring journalism
  • documentary photography

Granta also has a book publishing imprint, Granta Books, whose recently published authors include Simon Gray, Michael Collins, Anna Funder, Olga Tokarczuk and Tim Guest.

Ownership

In 1994, Rea Hederman, owner of The New York Review of Books took a controlling stake in the magazine. In October 2005, control of the magazine was bought by Swedish-born philanthropist, anthropologist and human rights campaigner Sigrid Rausing, granddaughter of billionaire Ruben Rausing, inventor of the Tetra-Pak carton.

Granta Best of Young British Novelists

In 1983, Granta (issue #7) published a list of 20 young British novelists as names to watch out for in the future. Since then, the magazine has repeated the exercise in 1993 (issue #43) and in 2003 (issue #81). In 1996 (issue #54), Granta also published a similar list of promising young American novelists, to be repeated at the end of 2006.

The 1983 list

The 1993 list

The 2003 list

The 1996 list of American novelists

Recent contributors

Recent contributors to the magazine include:

Every issue since the relaunch is still in print. Older issues are widely available in used bookstores, as well as directly from the publisher. The publishers state that some of them — Travel (issue 10) and The Family (issue 37), for example — are "significant contributions to the literature of the English language."

Bibliography

  1. New American Writing, 1 September 1979, ISBN 0140145753
  2. George Steiner: The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H., 1 March 1980, ISBN 0140145761
  3. The End of The English Novel, 1 March 1980, ISBN 014014577X
  4. Beyond the Crisis, 1 March 1981, ISBN 0140145788
  5. Don Bloch: The Modern Common Wind, 1 March 1982, ISBN 0140145796
  6. A Literature for Politics, 1 December 1982, ISBN 014014580X
  7. Best of Young British Novelists, 1 March 1983, ISBN 0140140824
  8. Dirty Realism: New Writing from America, 1 June 1983, ISBN 0140068694
  9. John Berger: Boris, 1 September 1983, ISBN 0140068805
  10. Travel Writing, 1 December 1983, ISBN 0140070524
  11. Milan Kundera: Greetings from Prague, 1 March 1984, ISBN 0140073833
  12. The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones, 1 June 1984, ISBN 0140075658
  13. After the Revolution, 1 September 1984, ISBN 0140075666
  14. Autobiography, 1 December 1984, ISBN 0140075674
  15. James Fenton: The Fall of Saigon, 1 March 1985, ISBN 014007581X
  16. Science, 1 June 1985, ISBN 0140084797
  17. Graham Greene: While Waiting for a War, 1 September 1985, ISBN 0140084800
  18. The Snap Revolution, 1 March 1986, ISBN 0140084827
  19. More Dirt: The New American Fiction, 1 June 1986, ISBN 0140085955
  20. In Trouble Again, 1 December 1986, ISBN 0140085971
  21. The Story-Teller, 1 March 1987, ISBN 0140085998
  22. Hanif Kureishi: With Your Tongue Down My Throat, 1 September 1987, ISBN 0140086021
  23. Home, 1 March 1988, ISBN 0140086048
  24. Inside Intelligence, 1 June 1988, ISBN 0140086064
  25. Martin Amis: The Murderee, 1 September 1988, ISBN 0140086080
  26. Travel, 1 March 1989, ISBN 0140123563
  27. Death, 1 June 1989, ISBN 014012358X
  28. Birthday Special!, 1 September 1989, ISBN 0140123601
  29. Jonathan Raban: New World, 1 December 1989, ISBN 0140128638
  30. New Europe!, 1 March 1990, ISBN 0140132996
  31. The General, 1 April 1990, ISBN 014013431X
  32. History, 1 June 1990, ISBN 0140138560
  33. What Went Wrong?, 1 June 1990, ISBN 0140138587
  34. Simon Schama: Death of a Harvard Man, 1 August 1990, ISBN 0140138609
  35. John le Carré: The Unbearable Peace, 1 April 1991, ISBN 0140148469
  36. Mario Vargas Llosa: Vargas Llosa for President, 1 June 1991, ISBN 0140152083
  37. The Family, 1 September 1991, ISBN 0140152075
  38. We're So Happy!, 1 December 1991, ISBN 0140152113
  39. The Body, 1 April 1992, ISBN 0140140492
  40. Richard Ford: The Womanizer, 1 June 1992, ISBN 0140140549
  41. Biography, 1 September 1992, ISBN 0140140522
  42. Krauts!, 1 December 1992, ISBN 0140140565
  43. Best of Young British Novelists 2, 1 March 1993, ISBN 014014059X
  44. The Last Place on Earth, 1 June 1993, ISBN 014014062X
  45. Ian Hamilton: Gazza Agonistes, 1 September 1993, ISBN 0140140654
  46. Crime, 1 December 1993, ISBN 0140140670
  47. Losers, 1 March 1994, ISBN 0140140832
  48. Africa, 1 September 1994, ISBN 0140140840
  49. Money, 1 December 1994, ISBN 0140140859
  50. Fifty, 1 June 1995, ISBN 0140141049
  51. Big Men (and L.A. Women), 1 September 1995, ISBN 0140141081
  52. Food: The Vital Stuff, 1 December 1995, ISBN 0140141138
  53. News, 1 March 1996, ISBN 0140141332
  54. The Best of Young American Novelists, 1 June 1996, ISBN 0140141359
  55. Children: Blind Bitter Happiness, 1 September 1996, ISBN 0140141413
  56. What Happened to Us?: Britain's Valedictory Realism, 1 December 1996, ISBN 014014143X
  57. India!: The Golden Jubilee, 1 March 1997, ISBN 0140141472
  58. Ambition, 1 June 1997, ISBN 0140141480
  59. France: The Outsider, 1 September 1997, ISBN 0140141510
  60. Unbelievable, 1 December 1997, ISBN 0140141529
  61. The Sea, 1 March 1998, ISBN 0140141537
  62. What Young Men Do, 15 June 1998, ISBN 0140141545
  63. Beasts, 1 September 1998, ISBN 0140141553
  64. Russia: The Wild East, 1 December 1998, ISBN 0140141561
  65. London: The Lives of the City, 1 February 1999, ISBN 0140141588
  66. Truth + Lies, 1 May 1999, ISBN 0964561166
  67. Women and Children First, 1 September 1999, ISBN 0964561174
  68. Love Stories, 1 December 1999, ISBN 0964561182
  69. The Assassin, 1 April 2000, ISBN 0964561190
  70. Australia: The New New World, 1 July 2000, ISBN 1929001002
  71. Shrinks, 1 September 2000, ISBN 1929001010
  72. Overreachers, 1 December 2000, ISBN 1929001029
  73. Necessary Journeys, 1 March 2001, ISBN 0903141426
  74. Anonymous: Confessions of a Middle-Aged Ecstasy Eater, 7 July 2001, ISBN 0903141442
  75. Brief Encounters, 9 October 2001, ISBN 1929001053
  76. Music, 9 January 2002, ISBN 0903141485
  77. What We Think of America, 28 March 2002, ISBN 0903141507
  78. Bad Company, 15 June 2002, ISBN 0903141523
  79. Celebrity, 1 October 2002, ISBN 1929001096
  80. The Group: Pictures from Previous Lives, 9 January 2003, ISBN 192900110X
  81. Best of Young British Novelists 2003, 3 April 2003, ISBN 0903141582
  82. Life's Like That, 3 July 2003, ISBN 0903141604
  83. This Overheating World, 30 October 2003, ISBN 0903141620
  84. Over There: How America Sees the World, 1 January 2004, ISBN 1929001142
  85. Hidden Histories, 1 May 2004, ISBN 1929001150
  86. Film, 15 July 2004, ISBN 1929001169
  87. Jubilee, 15 October 2004, ISBN 1929001177
  88. Mothers, 15 December 2004, ISBN 1929001185
  89. The Factory, 15 April 2005, ISBN 1929001193
  90. Country Life: Dispatches from What's Left of It, 15 August 2005, ISBN 1929001207
  91. Wish You Were Here, 15 September 2005, ISBN 0903141809
  92. The View from Africa, 15 January 2006, ISBN 1929001223
  93. God's Own Countries: Are You Living In One?, 14 April 2006, ISBN 0903141841
  94. On the Road Again: Where Travel Writing Went Next, 15 July 2006, ISBN 192900124X
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