Granta's Best Young British Novelists

Nadifa Mohamed and Ross Raisin
In conversation with John Freeman, Granta editor
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
01:14:39
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Episode Summary

In 1983, Granta devoted an entire issue to new fiction by 20 of the "Best of Young British Novelists" and did so again ten years later. From Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie, Kazuo Ishiguro to Zadie Smith, these lists have offered a revealing snapshot of a generation of writers about to come into their own. Join us for a reading and discussion with some of Britain’s best, including a judge of the 2013 series and this year’s newly announced novelists.


Participant(s) Bio

John Freeman is the editor of Granta magazine, and author of two books, The Tyranny of E-mail and How to Read A Novelist (forthcoming). Freeman is also a poet and critic whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Paris Review, Zyzzyva, and The Believer. Between 2006 and 2008, he served as president of the National Book Critics Circle. He currently teaches at Columbia University and City University of New York

Nadifa Mohamed was born in Somalia and moved to Britain in 1986. Her first novel, Black Mamba Boy (2010), is a semi-biographical account of her father’s life in Yemen in the 30s and 40s. It was longlisted for the Orange Prize, shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the PEN/Open Book Award, among others, and won the Betty Trask Award. Her new novel, The Orchard of Lost Souls, is forthcoming.

Ross Raisin was born in West Yorkshire. His debut novel, God's Own Country (2008), won a Betty Trask Award and Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award in 2009, as well as being shortlisted for both the Guardian First Book Award and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His second novel, Waterline, was published in 2011.  His short stories have appeared in Granta, Prospect, Esquire, Dazed & Confused, and the Sunday Times.



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