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Explore Essays and memoir

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.

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 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.

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

Introduction

Thomas Meaney

‘This issue of Granta collects writing headed full tilt in the opposite direction from the literary lassitude of the land.’

The editor introduces the issue.

Today We Just Say Germany

Alexander Kluge

‘A philosopher will reflect on the world from any place.’

Alexander Kluge on Germany, translated by Peter Kuras.

Last Week at Marienbad

Lauren Oyler

‘The only thing on the schedule was spa.’

Lauren Oyler on her trip to Marienbad.

How Lustig is It

Peter Kuras

‘Germans don’t really have a word for ‘funny’, which seems appropriate enough.’

Peter Kuras on German humour.

Israel in 600 Words or Less

Etgar Keret

‘My mind contains a lot of good answers to bad questions’

Etgar Keret on the impossibility of representing a nation.

A Boat Ride to the Confluence of the Two Niles

Isma’il Kushkush

‘April 2022 marked my first visit to my ancestral homeland in seven years.’

Memoir by Isma’il Kushkush.