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Kevin Gerry Dunn Reading Cristina Morales [Granta]

In addition to a series of posts about the 25 pieces in the new Granta, I asked a handful of the translators to provide short videos introducing the piece they worked on for the issue and reading a section from it. Next up is Kevin Gerry Dunn, who translated Cristina Morales's "Ode to Cristina Morales." ...

Statistical Noise [Granta]

It took a few more days than I had hoped, but I have officially read all twenty-five pieces included in this new Granta issue. (I wonder how many people actually do read it from cover to cover. And what percentage that is of all the copies in circulation. God, I'll bet that number is depressing, whether it's Granta, ...

Kelsi Vanada Reading Andrea Chapela [Granta]

In addition to a series of posts about the 25 pieces in the new Granta, I asked a handful of the translators to provide short videos introducing the piece they worked on for the issue and reading a section from it. First up is Kelsi Vanada, who translated Andrea Chapela's "Borromean Rings." ...

The Predictive Success of Listmaking [Granta]

Let's start by saying what really shouldn't need to be said: Being included in one of Granta's "Best Young XXX Novelists" special issues is an incredible honor. These come out once a decade, with four iterations of "best young" British novelists, three for American writers, and, as of this month, two for Spanish-language ...

Writing about Granta’s “Best of Young Spanish-Language Novelists 2”

Just about a decade ago, Granta released their first ever list of "young Spanish-language novelists." This was a momentous occasion for a number of reasons, starting with the point that, until then, only young British and American writers had been featured by the magazine. (There had been three lists of best British ...

Christmas Eve at Dixie Truck Stop [Dear Editor]

In the early 2000s, a number of issues of the Review of Contemporary Fiction featured "Letters to the Editor." It was a poorly kept secret that all of these—the letters and responses—were written by John O'Brien. Obsessed with failing marriages and sad sack lives, these letters are wonderful bits of satire and voice, ...

The Hole vs. The Hole vs. Algorithms vs. Booksellers

Although it's still hard to get truly excited about writing—and harder to imagine anyone reading this, given all that's going on in the world—it was pretty fun working on that last post about October titles that I wish I had the time and attention to read. So, why not do it again? Even if these posts are shambolic and ...