Copyright 2012 Granta en Thu, 9 Feb 2012 23:08:53 +0000 60 Granta Magazine New Writing: Jason Boog Latest New Writing posts by Jason Boog at Granta Magazine http://www.granta.com/Contributors/Jason-Boog Susan Orlean and Saïd Sayrafiezadeh http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Susan-Orlean-and-Said-Sayrafiezadeh http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Susan-Orlean-and-Said-Sayrafiezadeh 2009-03-31T17:55:33Z Jason Boog

In the age of Twitter, our writing seems to be getting shorter. As bitty book reviews and shrunken short stories begin to dominate, a recent Granta event celebrated the long-form art of creative nonfiction. Granta American editor John Freeman hosted the reading at the Soho House in Manhattan, leading a conversation between authors Susan Orlean and Saïd Sayrafiezadeh. The evening focused on the difficult task of turning personal narratives into book-length projects.

‘I think everybody who has written a magazine piece and is going to turn it into a book has this delusional moment where they think, “Oh, my God, this is going to be so easy. I basically already wrote it”’, laughed Orlean, a journalist and bestselling author. For The New Yorker, she wrote a literary essay about exploring Florida swamps with a rare-flower expert. A few years later, the essay became the foundation for her bestselling book, The Orchid Thief, and inspired the film, Adaptation. Despite all her long-form work, Orlean maintains a Twitter page.

Sayrafiezadeh had a darker experience. In 2005, he wrote an essay for Granta 91, ‘When Skateboards Will Be Free’, about his tumultuous relationship with his father. Last week, Dial Press published his memoir of the same title, built from the frame of his Granta essay. ‘My father hasn’t spoken to me since the Granta piece came out,’ he confessed at the reading. He recently captured those complex feelings in an essay for Granta.com, ‘Keeping it in the Family’.

]]> Multimedia Tue, 31 Mar 2009 22:25:00 +0100 Video: New Voices Event http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/New-Voices-Event http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/New-Voices-Event 2009-03-12T17:43:17Z Jason Boog

A crowd of Granta readers braved the icy streets of downtown Manhattan last Tuesday evening, for Granta’s first-ever New Voices evening at the Tribeca Barnes & Noble. The reading featured one of Granta’s most celebrated authors, Jayne Anne Phillips, alongside two young writers from the MFA program at Rutgers-Newark. American editor John Freeman opened the evening with a smile. ‘Rutgers in the house!’ he declared, and the New Jersey contingent cheered.

The reading opened as Erin McMillan read from her short story, ‘Crossing Cut Creek’. The story follows an eleven-year-old narrator as she obsessively catalogues the world, struggling to comprehend her mother’s problems. Read an interview with McMillan here.

Next, Evan James Roskos read his short story, ‘Conspiracy of Males’. The New Jersey native turned his young protagonist’s insecurities into a vicious chorus. Read an interview with Roskos here, and watch his ‘Conspiracy of Males’ video below.

Jayne Anne Phillips read from her most recent novel, Lark & Termite, an excerpt of which appeared in Granta 82.

John Freeman joined the writers on stage for a conversation about creative writing MFAs and individual process. Phillips now helms the MFA Program at Rutgers-Newark, the State University of New Jersey. She handpicked both McMillan and Roskos for Rutgers, and smiled like a proud mother as her two young protégées fielded questions about the MFA experience. Granta will continue its New Voices feature when Granta.com is relaunched later this month. To read all the New Voices stories, click here.

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