Sana Krasikov and Viv Groskop discuss the Soviet experience, the rise of mass cynicism and the politics of Russia and the US today.
Viv Groskop interviews Sana Krasikov about her novel The Patriots. They discuss the Soviet and post-Soviet experience, the rise of mass cynicism and the parallels between the politics of Russia and America today.
‘Russian officials are on the one hand masterminding the takeover of Ukraine, and on the other writing dissident lyrics for rock bands. To them they can do it all. They are above consistency.’ – Sana Krasikov.
‘We meet at various points in the great swathes of the past that neither of us were alive to witness.’
Allen Bratton on a daytrip to a castle with his older boyfriend.
‘Listening to three white poets, whom I suspect are academics, talk about the state of poetry.’
Oluwaseun Olayiwola eavesdrops on an older generation.
‘I’d been dubious about his company at first.’
Sarah Moss on watching Shakespeare with her twelve-year-old son.
‘She didn’t trust us because, to her, tenants were like children.’
Kate Zambreno on negotiating with her older landlady.
‘A moment now swallowed in embarrassment, I asked a question only a young person might ask an older one.’
Lynne Tillman on trying to understand what makes a generation.
‘Breaking your family’s heart was the price you paid for rescuing your own.’
‘I wonder if the only way to grasp what is terrifying and unimaginable for those of us who haven’t experienced it is to feel around the contours of inescapability, the boundary of its negative space.’
‘The world is teeming with demons who are always looking for ways to screw with your good fortune.’
‘It’s perhaps hard to imagine a country with abundant mineral or oil reserves simply leaving that wealth underground. But there are precedents here, historical and contemporary.’
Granta interviews Thea Riofrancos.
‘How far can one deviate from the accepted pieties before one is kicked out?’
Brandon Taylor on naturalism and the future of fiction.
‘From the sloth skin onwards, In Patagonia is built around scraps and surfaces.’
Louis Rogers on travelling in Bruce Chatwin’s footsteps.
