Granta

The Founders of Granta

Granta was founded in 1889 and was revived in the late 1970s.

The first founders of Granta were Cambridge University students. The magazine, originally known as The Granta, was a student literary magazine that focused on politics, witty conversations, and literary works such as short fiction, poetry, and reviews.

Fig. 2 - The magazine was named after the River Granta, which flows into the River Cam. The River Cam passes through Cambridge University.

The first editor of the magazine was R.C. Lehmann. Lehmann was a Cambridge student who went on to become a well-known British politician and writer. He frequently contributed to the British humor and satire magazine Punch. Other early editors of the magazine include the English academic and famous cricket player R.P. Keigwin and the World War I poet and writer Edward Shanks.

In 1979, the magazine was relaunched after great financial difficulties and a lack of student interest and submissions. The Cambridge postgraduate students Bill Buford and Peter de Bolla founded the new phase of Granta, which aimed to publish the best new writers from around the world, rather than simply focusing on student submissions.

Bill Buford was the editor of Granta for 16 years, and his passion and originality greatly shaped the face and success of the magazine. Being an American, Buford reached out to many American authors for the first relaunch issue, broadening the scope of writers featured in Granta.

Origin and History of Granta

Granta began as a Cambridge University student magazine called The Granta. The Granta was a periodical highlighting student politics, badinage, and literary works, such as prose and poetry.

The original student magazine published the juvenilia of many authors who became quite famous. This list includes A.A. Milne, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Michael Frayn, and Stevie Smith.

Granta was revamped in 1979 after the student magazine suffered from financial troubles and a lack of student interest. Cambridge postgraduate students Bill Buford and Pete de Bolla rebranded Granta, transforming it from a dying student magazine to a quarterly literary publication featuring the best writing from around the world.

The first issue of the newly revamped Grata was titled New American Writing and brought acclaimed American writers such as Joyce Carol Oates, David Barthelme, and Susan Sontag to a British publication. The magazine’s editor, Bill Buford, was planning to move back to America at the end of his studies until the first revived issue of Granta unexpectedly sold 800 copies.

Bill Buford and Pete de Bolla initially struggled to get submissions for the magazine, and the relaunch was a challenging, exploratory endeavor. However, Buford remained editor of Granta for 16 years and helped establish the publication’s unique identity and credibility.

The magazine’s goal was to publish the best writing from around the world, and only to publish writing that the Granta team was passionate about. It has maintained this standard and expanded into a publishing branch called Granta Books, as well as a branch that focuses on poetry called Granta Poetry.

Granta Books

In 1989 Bill Buford founded Granta Books, a book publishing branch. The objective of Granta Books was to publish stimulating, inspiring, writing that would address hard questions and explore interesting times in history. Buford made it clear from the start that publishing quality writing that explored significant ideas was the goal of Granta Books, rather than simply publishing writing that would sell well. He said that the writing published must fit the criteria of writing that was featured in Granta magazine.

In 1994 Rea Hederman, the owner and publisher of The New York Review of Books took ownership of Granta Books and magazine.

In 1997 Granta Books was expanded as Rea Hederman brought in a publisher named Frances Coady. The company soon established its own sales department and quadrupled the number of books published.

In 2005 the list of authors published by Granta books expanded further, as the publisher Sigrid Rausing took ownership of Granta publications.

In 2007 Granta Books joined the Independent Alliance, in association with Faber publishers.

Granta Books currently publishes about 30 books a year. Books published by Granta Books are distributed and publicized by the famous British publishing house, Penguin. Some notable books published by Granta Books include:

• Once in Europa (1987) by John Berger
• Clandestine in Chile (1986) by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• The Mezzanine (1988) by Nicholson Baker
• Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990) by Salman Rushdie

Granta Books has also published writings by famous deceased writers such as:

• The Essential Tales of Chekhov (1999) by Anton Chekhov
• The Idiot (2003) by Fyodor Dostoevksky

The Importance of Granta

Granta is known as one of the most prestigious literary magazines in the English-speaking world. It has also helped establish new literary genres and new writers. Granta actively supports and encourages quality innovative, thought-provoking fiction and non-fiction writing. The publication is known as a forerunner in literary tastes that helps shape the literary landscape.

The magazine has introduced readers to notable authors including Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro, Zadie Smith, Margaret Atwood, Emma Cline, and Ben Lerner.

Fig. 3 - The writing of Magaret Atwood, the author of the famous dystopian novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), is featured in the Fiction and Memoirs & Essays sections of Granta magazine.

Granta's "Best of Young"

Granta is frequently recognized for its issues titled "Best of Young." These issues highlight significant up-and-coming writers under the age of 40 in different countries such as Britain, America, Brazil, and Spain. The magazine provides a platform for important young voices from around the world to be heard.

Granta has published lists of young novelists to pay attention to beginning in 1983. The 1983 list of 20 young British novelists to watch out for includes Kazuo Ishiguro and Salman Rushdie. The 2003 list includes Monica Ali and Zadie Smith. Granta's "Best of Young" American Novelists includes writers such as Olga Grushin, ZZ Packer, Emma Cline, and Ben Lerner.