‘I believe in the harmony of my friendship to Gisela rather than in the binding force that the institution of marriage is said to represent.’
On the mantelpiece red carnations from the garden in a pale green vase. The vase, the dozen freshly cut flowers, the brightly lit interior are visible in the large framed mirror above the mantelpiece and call for a – or so it seems – special consideration, a special attention. In referring to Ge…
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‘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.
‘It took him only a moment to eliminate all doubt. The opportunity was ripe.’
‘How to explain this resolve to write, this firm unwavering intent to become a writer on the part of someone who may not even really care for books?’
‘How far can one deviate from the accepted pieties before one is kicked out?’
Brandon Taylor on naturalism and the future of fiction.
‘My Czech family’s house stands on a geopolitical rift: it occupies a place the political storms sweep through, uprooting everything that is settled.’
An essay by Anna Parker.
‘From a dish washer to an author who writes about washing dishes.’
Memoir by Ilija Matusko, translated by Jen Calleja.
In late 1980, Fay Weldon and Bill Buford, then editor of this magazine, discussed Granta...
