Jenni Fagan speaks with Ellah Alfrey about the care system, her days in a band and how a library van nurtured her love of reading.
‘I think there should be a National Service of Hospitality. The best way to see the true face of humanity is to serve it a plate of chips.’
Camilla Grudova on bad-mannered customers.
‘Anyone who has ever worked night shifts will understand the vertiginous feeling that comes with staring down the day from the wrong end.’
A.K. Blakemore on working nights.
‘I was constantly reading job ads, trying to find my holy grail – a job I could stand to do, and someone foolish enough to hire me.’
Sandra Newman on learning how to play professional blackjack.
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
‘Every part of you would swell, including your eyeballs, and no matter how much water you drank, you were always dehydrated.’
Junot Díaz on working for a steel mill.
Jenni Fagan is the author of six collections of poetry and four novels. Her most recent book is The Bone Library.‘Zephyrs’, in Granta 123, is an excerpt from her novel The Sunlight Pilgrims. Ootlin, her memoir about growing up in state care, will be published in August 2023.
More about the author →Ellah Alfrey talks with Joanna Kavenna about wanderlust, genre-hopping and Nietzsche.
Ellah Allfrey speaks with Naomi Alderman, one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists.
Taiye Selasi talks about her mother’s garden, Rachmaninov and learning to speak Italian.
In the first partnership of its kind, Audible and Granta magazine are collaborating on the unabridged audiobook production of Granta 123: Best of Young British Novelists 4.
Binyavanga Wainaina talks to Ellah Allfrey about meeting the expectations of an African readership and what to do with a bad review.
‘Finn Lykke opened the door wearing jeans and a freshly-ironed, white shirt, he had made an effort.’
Fiction by Vigdis Hjorth, translated by Charlotte Barslund.
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