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A Flat Place

Noreen Masud

‘If all things were equal, what were we even doing here? Why weren’t we lying on our living-room floors, watching the dance of the dust, today and every day?’

Memoir by Noreen Masud.

Two Poems

Momtaza Mehri

‘Rub my scalp and tell me who I could have been. / Feed me a morsel or two.’

Two poems by Momtaza Mehri.

Generation Gap

Sarah Moss

‘I’d been dubious about his company at first.’

Sarah Moss on watching Shakespeare with her twelve-year-old son.

Generation Gap

Oluwaseun Olayiwola

‘Listening to three white poets, whom I suspect are academics, talk about the state of poetry.’

Oluwaseun Olayiwola eavesdrops on an older generation.

Introduction

Thomas Meaney

‘The Generations issue of Granta offers different age cohorts a chance for mutual inspection.’

Thomas Meaney introduces the issue.

The Sensitivity Reader

Andrew O’Hagan

‘Human nature is not improved by concealment, especially when it comes to the past.’

A short story by Andrew O’Hagan.

[3. Ekphrastic]

Nam Le

‘Tinge of colour decay.’

Poetry by Nam Le.

The Attaché’s Wife

Karan Mahajan

“I’m from here. I grew up here. In fact, that’s why the government invited me back for this work.”

Short fiction by Karan Mahajan.

The Trouble with Old Men

Samuel Moyn

‘The choicest parts of the world’s richest cities, according to demographers, are dense with aged residents.’

Samuel Moyn on gerontocracy.

Solo Poly

Sophie Frances Kemp

‘When you are a female this is what happens: if you are not selected to be a mate by age twenty-seven, you are asked to get on the bus.’

Fiction by Sophie Frances Kemp.

Don’t Wake Me Up Too Soon

Daniel Kehlmann

‘Satire only comes into its own against the powerful; against the powerless it is cheap mockery from above.’

Daniel Kehlmann on writing, translated from the German by Ross Benjamin

Evaporation in the Boundary Zone

Ilija Matusko

‘From a dish washer to an author who writes about washing dishes.’

Memoir by Ilija Matusko, translated by Jen Calleja.

Lentille

Urs Mannhart

‘I can’t help Lentille. Even though she roars. As long as she roars, I won’t be able to work.’

An essay from Urs Mannhart, translated by Christine Müller

Beginning and End

Lukas Maisel

‘If she really knew how beautiful she was, she would hardly have met up with him, so it was best not to tell her.’

Fiction by Lukas Maisel, translated by Ruth Martin.