Granta | The Home of New Writing

Explore Fiction

Diane

Avigayl Sharp

‘I lied about my age and I lied about my location and I lied about being horny.’

Fiction by Avigayl Sharp.

The Museum Guard

J.M. Coetzee

‘Do they strike people as a strange couple? He does not know, does not care.’

Fiction by J.M. Coetzee.

Private View

Sophie Collins

‘Being recognised as part of a couple thrilled me; I felt legitimised. John had a life, a full life.’

Fiction by Sophie Collins.

Embrace

Kevin Brazil

‘Love is a concept about which I have long been very sceptical. I have seen the damage that can be done, and can be justified, in the name of love.’

Fiction by Kevin Brazil.

Bitter North

Alexandra Tanner

‘Eight years in, Hal felt like another her, somehow.’

Fiction by Alexandra Tanner.

Lígia

Victor Heringer

‘Today, three years after I befriended him to see him die, the idea of losing Sr Mendes has left me all mixed up.’

A short story by Victor Heringer, translated by James Young.

Armance

Fleur Jaeggy

‘I don’t think much of the very silly, even gullible, person that I am.’

Fiction by Fleur Jaeggy, translated by Gini Alhadeff.

Honeymoon

Allen Bratton

‘On all sides he is surrounded by old people: jowly liver-spotted men in wrinkled suits, brown-toothed women in Thatcher drag, holding forth with tiresome decorum on coal imports, road safety, the economy of Northern Ireland.’

Fiction by Allen Bratton.

Cracked Plate

Nicola Dinan

‘Later that day, Emma had thought of Nina while Toby fucked her in bed. Isn’t that fucked? Thinking about the other girl he was fucking. Her friend.’

Fiction by Nicola Dinan.

Bed of Nails

Kathy Stevens

‘I should warn you, she said, ketchup on her chin, on the back of her hand. I like to have sex a lot.’

Fiction by Kathy Stevens.

The Material

Camille Bordas

‘Rehearsing in front of the mirror was for actors, according to them, not comedians. It was for vain people. A good comedian was the opposite of vain, they said.’

Fiction by Camille Bordas.

Aishwarya Rai

Sanjana Thakur

‘The shelter houses one hundred and fifty women who used to be or long to be or have no choice but to be Mothers.’

Fiction by Sanjana Thakur.

Dite

Reena Usha Rungoo

‘She collected stamps when she was younger, then switched to books, degrees, and – when she moved abroad – white lovers.’

Fiction by Reena Usha Rungoo.

The Devil’s Son

Portia Subran

‘He was prone to what he did call adventures, like if he had an irrepressible pull to wander every trace and tributary contained in Chaguanas.’

Fiction by Portia Subran.