‘I’ve always accepted my mother’s overuse of ellipses as an idiosyncrasy of an elderly texter. But she doesn’t reserve the ‘. . .’ for ominous messages.’ Madeline Cash on texting, technology and misunderstandings. granta.com/connecting-t...

Rejecting nostalgic accounts of the nation-state in postcolonial India, our essay of the week foregrounds the contradictions in elite formation, English’s ambivalent role, and the legacy of Marxist and subaltern thought. With Sanjay Subrahmanyam in @grantamag.bsky.social buff.ly/d6UkGMa

‘What appeared to be a single extrajudicial killing now looked like a program to eliminate Khalistani activists across North America.’ Karan Mahajan on the killing of a Canadian Sikh. granta.com/the-killing-...

I always enjoy reading Sanjay Subrahmanyam, and this interview on modern Indians' fraught relationship with liberalism, history, and nationalism is a good one. granta.com/indian-tempt...

Some zingers but more insights in this Granta interview of historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam 🗃️

Congratulations to David Szalay, whose novel ‘Flesh’ won the 2025 Booker Prize. An excerpt of ‘Flesh’ is available to read here. granta.com/flesh/

A terrific interview with Salman Rushdie about his history with Granta. Bill Buford published the first chapter of 'Midnight's Children' in the magazine before the book was out and without Rushdie even knowing. granta.com/reclaiming-t...

Flesh really is a superb novel; if you'd like a taster, this is an excerpt published in Granta earlier this year - not exactly the same as the passage in the book, but very much gives the flavour (and also contains a huge, crippling OOF at the end) granta.com/flesh/

‘Kannada literature goes back over a thousand years, and it has had the depth – and confidence – to absorb English influences while holding its own.’  Srinath Perur on translating Kannada. granta.com/kannada/

‘One Sunday, she accompanied her mother to a devotional gathering. The host, a family friend, had become a member of a mission called the Society.’  Fiction by Devika Rege. granta.com/homa/

‘India and Pakistan have been separate countries now for almost eighty years, yet the people of these two societies still speak to each other with such ease that it can seem as if they’ve grown up under the same roof.’ Aatish Taseer on Urdu and Hindi. granta.com/urdu/

‘Nothing scared him as much as his impending circumcision. They did it with special super-sharp knives, the other kids said. The barber did it, a specialised barber, not a doctor.’  Fiction by Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari. granta.com/a-public-cir...

‘It is a sticky thing, caste. Even small linguistic signals can reveal much.’ Jerry Pinto on Marathi and untranslatable vernacular. granta.com/marathi/

‘In under a decade, the country’s space economy is expected to grow to £44 billion.’ Keerthana Kenneth photographs India’s space industry. granta.com/indian-orbits/

‘What does it mean for a language – for a people, for a culture – to have the same word for time and death? What does it do to them?’  Rahul Soni on language, definitions and the poetry of coincidence. granta.com/hindi/

‘Every language grows by absorbing and layering the absorbed with its own genius. The act of translation has long been a lubricant for this form of exchange.’  Priyamvada Ramkumar on translating Tamil and the evolution and expansion of languages. granta.com/tamil/

‘For many writers, loyalty was above all to a region and a linguistic community, rather than to India writ large.’ Granta interviews Sanjay Subrahmanyam. granta.com/indian-tempt...

‘Byonjonar otripti describes the opposite of satisfaction. It is a “dissatisfying meal”, a taste that remains or won’t resolve, that continues to tease the taste buds.’  Aruni Kashyap on Assamese storytelling and ongoing narratives. granta.com/assamese/

‘Nothing scared him as much as his impending circumcision. They did it with special super-sharp knives, the other kids said. The barber did it, a specialised barber, not a doctor.’  Fiction by Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari. granta.com/a-public-cir...

‘The footage of Modi’s dive, however, only shows the submerged prime minister; nothing of the submerged city.’ Raghu Karnad on the relationship between archaeology and nationalism. granta.com/under-the-ru...

‘With no doctors, no electricity, no running water, no paved roads, no functioning school, and no sewage system – the insurgents were not so much co-opting a society as building one.’  Snigdha Poonam visits Jharkhand. granta.com/the-thin-red...

‘As the horror of her abduction sunk in, she faced it bravely: “Just tell me how you intend to dispose of me.” Her unhappiness lasted a few minutes.’ Sujatha Gilda on dementia and caring for her mother. granta.com/i-am-my-moth...

‘There’s no doubt that the epics are such rich and intricate narratives that they remain an important resource for a panoply of writers.’ Sanjay Subrahmanyam on Indian literature. granta.com/indian-tempt...

‘That feeling – of not knowing what to do with your unease – is byonjonar otripti. The term comes from the world of food, where byonjonar is a dish or meal.’ Aruni Kashyap on storytelling traditions, closure and embracing readerly discomfort. granta.com/assamese/

‘I never felt like going to Jivo’s house. I used to think, “A Bhangya’s house, the house of the lowest of untouchables, is dirty.”’ Fiction by Umesh Solanki, translated by Gopika Jadeja. granta.com/transformati...

‘There is an element of faith in ISRO’s pre-launch rituals for satellites and rockets. Staff have been known to perform Hindu puja ceremonies before moving material to the launch sites.’ Srinath Perur on India’s space programme. granta.com/india-in-the...

‘Moninder had reasons to suspect India. For years, Nijjar had publicly espoused the cause of Khalistan, an independent Sikh state in India.’ Karan Mahajan on the murder of a Sikh in Canada. granta.com/the-killing-...

‘A child’s heart finds pleasure in rote and formula.’ Fiction by Geetanjali Shree, translated by Diasy Rockwell.  granta.com/all-at-once/

‘He introduced me: “Mr Manmohan, my boss, but more importantly, a famous Kannada short-story writer.” I listened for any trace of sarcasm.’  Fiction by Vivek Shanbhag, translated by Srinath Perur. granta.com/a-measure-fo...

Granta magazine's latest issue, 173, is out today, and free to read for the next four days. It is on Modi's India. I wrote an essay on the word 'Nepali' for a symposium on thirteen Indian (and in this case also Nepali and Bhutanese) languages: granta.com/nepali/

‘Homa learned that offering help was a reliable means to secure affection. The moment she met someone new, she would study them for what they needed.’ Fiction by Devika Rege. granta.com/homa/

DON'T MISS THIS! 🎺 FREE GRANTA ACCESS ##WritingCommmunity #poetrycommunity I believe there are about 3 more days before the paywall comes down on this new issue. Meaning you can read a lot, if not the whole issue, online, for FREE! ( without ANY pre-conditions ) such as being a subscriber! Etc

‘She had deprived the kid the right to a normal father already. To deny him his right to a circumcised penis would be too much to bear. The boy had to be circumcised.’ Fiction by Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari. granta.com/a-public-cir...

For our autumn edition, Granta goes to Modi’s India. granta.com/products/gra...

Yash Sheth's photographs in the current, monumental issue of @grantamag.bsky.social, beautifully introduced by Ruchir Joshi. granta.com/come-rain-co...

For our autumn edition, Granta goes to Modi’s India. granta.com/products/gra...

‘Even the absence of language – the gaps between or beside words – come to seem like glyphs.’ Maggie Millner on silence, rupture and reaching the end of the line. granta.com/breaking-poi...

This issue of @grantamag.bsky.social has a genius, but day-ruining, short story by Leopold O’Shea. Carousel.

From the archive, 2015: fiction by Hitomi Kanehara, translated by Dan Bradley. ‘I still had some money in the bank and could think of a few people I could still borrow from. Maybe all I really wanted was a place to go.’ granta.com/delira/

‘I passed the local community school, classrooms lit up and occupied by adults trying to better themselves or, I suppose, have fun.’ A short story by Beth Kilkenny. granta.com/two-by-two/

From the archive, 2004: fiction by Jackie Kay. ‘I wondered furiously if Martin Amis had put her up to that too. Perhaps there was something in one of his books that advised people in long-term relationships to stop doing everything that they used to enjoy doing.’ granta.com/you-go-when-...

‘I learnt to distinguish the various accents of the x, its obscure conventions. More kisses – five, say, rather than one – were less likely to be passion, more an outpouring of affection, often between friends.’ Akshi Singh on texting and English kisses. granta.com/x/

For our Autumn edition, Granta goes to Modi’s India. The issue launches on Thursday November 6th.

“whatever language pigeon is the pigeon is speaking death, its undesperate eye open and blinking like code: We’re not long for this world where we once carried messages and sometimes lost our way over patchworks of misery.” ❤️

‘The last time I flew Flybe / I recognized my own handiwork’ Poems by Matthew Rice. granta.com/three-poems-...

For a new online series, Mark Up, we invited authors to bring their most pedantic attention to punctuation and grammar. First up, Harriet Armstrong on we really mean when we write ‘lol’. granta.com/lol-im-tryin...

From the archive, 1989: fiction by John Updike. ‘David Kern, in these three days, had felt himself become pulplike – shapeless, lost and swallowed.’ granta.com/the-lens-fac...

‘Colm had moved on – moved backwards, really, back into the groove dug for him by Sarah. That is marriage, he thinks now: the comfort of the groove.’ Fiction by Ana Kinsella. granta.com/the-bog-bodi...

Happy to have three sections from plastic in @grantamag.bsky.social ! Thanks to the editors. 🙏🤍💙 granta.com/three-poems-...

‘Bagging and tagging / plastic table latches / for aeroplane seats / my hands are each its twin’ Three poems from the factory floor by Matthew Rice. granta.com/three-poems-...