Past Events

Don’t Cross this Line: A Granta Art Salon on Photojournalism
27 February, 7 p.m., The Hospital Club, 24 Endell Street, London WC2H 9HQ. Free. RSVP essential. Please email publicist Saskia Vogel, svogel@granta.com to reserve a place.

Photojournalists bear witness at the front line of human experience. But when does photojournalism become exploitative? Granta’s February art salon will open with a presentation of Julie, a photo essay by Darcy Padilla featured in Granta 122: Betrayal and a dramatic reading of an extract of Padilla’s journal about her work. Julie is a devastating portrait of a woman living with Aids and struggling with motherhood after a lifetime of abuse and addiction. From a first encounter at a flophouse in San Francisco to the end of Julie’s life in Alaska, these photographs and Padilla’s reflections show how trust and exploitation mingle between artist and subject.

Looking at Julie and selections from the photojournalism featured in Granta since 1979, Granta artistic director Michael Salu, photographer Afshin Dehkordi (BBC, Granta, artistic consultant to the Brighton Photo Fringe and festival director of Bread & Roses Centennial)and Daniel Campbell Blight (writer, curator and talks assistant at the Photographers’ Gallery) will explore the relationship between subject and photographer, the cultural and social significance of controversial imagery and the responsibility the media should take when selecting images for publication.

The Bath Launch
24 January, doors at 7.45 p.m., event at 8 p.m., Topping and Company Booksellers, The Paragon, Bath BA1 5LS. £7, redeemable against the purchase of a book.

Celebrate the launch of Granta 122: Betrayal. Feel the sting of betrayal with readings of new work from Bath writer Samantha Harvey, author of the prize-winning The Wilderness, and publisher and author, Colin Robinson. The evening will be hosted by Granta online editor Ted Hodgkinson.

Betrayal: A Liars’ League Storytelling Salon
28 January, 7 p.m., The Betsey Trotwood, 56 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3BL. £7, tickets include a copy of Granta 122. Tickets are only available at the door. RSVP to events@granta.com to reseve your place.

Performing stories marked by the sharp edge of loss, love and betrayal from an unnamed dystopia to the American West, the Liars’ League, a live storytelling salon, reads new work from Granta 122 contributors Ben Marcus, Jennifer Vanderbes and Callan Wink.

Down the Rabbit Hole
29 January, 7 p.m., The Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QJ. £12.50, includes a copy of Granta 122.

In the new issue of Granta magazine, themed Betrayal, veteran war reporter Janine di Giovanni writes of her recent trip to Syria, the people she encountered there and their stories of life in a country torn apart. Janine di Giovanni has reported on more than a dozen wars for nearly twenty years. She is an award-winning reporter and author, and the former president of the Jury of the Prix Bayeux for war reporters. Her latest book is Ghosts by Daylight: A Memoir of War and Love. ‘Seven Days in Syria’ was supported by funding from The Nation Institute.

She is joined by Frances Harrison who lived in Sri Lanka for 4 years, working as BBC Correspondent and Bureau Chief. She is one of few Western journalists to have travelled extensively in the war zone reporting on the Tamil Tigers during the peace process and one of only a handful of outsiders still in touch by telephone with people inside the conflict area at the height of the fighting in 2009. For many years she worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC posted in South Asia, South East Asia and Iran. She has worked at Amnesty International as Head of News and while writing Still Counting the Dead – her acclaimed book about the Sri Lanka conflict – she was a visiting research fellow at Oxford University.

With readings and conversation focused on the Syrian and Sri Lankan conflicts moderated by Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey, this event explores the ethics of venturing into war zones, the line between truth and fiction and how to tell the stories of war.

The London Launch
30 January, 6.30 p.m., Foyles, 113–119 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EB. Free.

The latest issue of Granta explores the sting of betrayal by a loved one, our leaders and from within our own hearts. Join Granta, Samantha Harvey and John Burnside for readings and conversation that mark the launch of Granta 121. A drinks reception will follow.

An Evening with Granta and the Brazil Institute
12 November, 6.30 p.m., King's College London, The Pyramid Room, 4th floor King’s Building, Strand Campus, London WC2R 2LS. RSVP to events@granta.com. Free.

Join Granta Best Young Brazilian Novelists Michel Laub and Tatiana Salem Levy, translator Stefan Tobler and Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey for readings and conversation about the next generation of Brazilian literature and its debut in the English-speaking world. Hosted by the King’s Brazil Institute, King’s College London.

The London Launch
13 November, 6.30 p.m., Foyles, 113–119 Charing Cross Road, London. RSVP to events@granta.com. Free.

Celebrate the launch of Granta 121: The Best of Young Brazilian Novelists with visiting authors Vinicius Jatobá, Michel Laub, Tatiana Salem Levy and Carola Saavedra, who will join Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey for readings and conversation. Come discover the writers who are carrying Brazil’s rich literary legacy forward.

Translating Culture: From Copacabana to Clerkenwell
14 November, 7 p.m., Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA. £7/£5 concessions, tickets include a copy of Granta 121. Purchase tickets here or at the door on the night of the event.

Granta magazine introduces the next generation of Brazilian writers to the Free Word Centre for an evening of short readings with Best Young Brazilian Novelists Vinicius Jatobá , Michel Laub, Tatiana Salem Levy and Carola Saavedra. Then, award-winning translator Margaret Jull Costa and Michel Laub will explore bringing Laub’s short story ‘Animals’ into English with Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey.

The Bath Launch
15 November, 7 p.m., BRLSI (Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution) 16–18 Queen Square Bath, Avon BA1 2HN. RSVP to events@granta.com. Free.

Granta’s online editor Ted Hodgkinson introduces Carola Saavedra, Vinicius Jatobá and translator Jethro Soutar with readings and conversation about being chosen as a Best of Young Brazilian Novelist. In association with Bath Spa University’s Creative Writing Department.

The Cambridge Launch
15 November, 6.30 p.m., Waterstones, 22 Sidney Street, Cambridge, CB2 3HG. RSVP to events@granta.com. Free.

Granta’s deputy editor Ellah Allfrey hosts an evening with Michel Laub and Tatiana Salem Levy, two Best Young Brazilian Novelists who are already leaving a mark on the literary landscape in Brazil and beyond. They will join a translator, who worked on this collection, for readings and conversation about the stories that are shaping how we see and understand Brazil today.

Festa Brasileira: A Celebration of Granta’s Best of Young Brazilian Novelists
16 November, 6 p.m–8 p.m., Ground Floor, Embassy of Brazil, 14–16 Cockspur Street, London SW1Y 5BL. RSVP to events@granta.com. Free.

Join Granta magazine for an evening exploring the stories, sounds and tastes of Brazil. Enjoy canapés, drinks and the company of Best Young Brazilian Novelists Vinicius Jatobá, Tatiana Salem Levy and Carola Saavedra, as well as dramatic readings from Granta 121 from the Liars’ League storytelling salon that range from a love letter to Rio to a client’s fantasy life about her therapist. The evening will be set to a soundtrack of the Granta authors’ favourite Brazilian music.

Granta 120: Medicine

The Art of Medicine
30 September, 6 p.m., Small Wonder Festival, Charleston, Firle, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 6LL. Ticket details to come.

To coincide with Granta magazine’s Medicine issue, contributing authors M.J. Hyland and A.L. Kennedy are joined by writer Adam Marek to read from their work and to discuss whether or not telling a story is the best tonic. Novelist and short story writer M.J. Hyland will reveal her struggles with a degenerative condition; author and stand-up comic A.L. Kennedy explores the mysteries and maladies of the body and her own brushes with the NHS. Adam Marek’s new collection of stories, The Stone Thrower, chronicles the experience of caring for a child with special needs. Chaired by Sigrid Rausing, Granta’s publisher.

Grand Rounds: A Lecture (A Play)
10 September, 7 p.m., The Horse Hospital, Colonnade, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1JD. £7, tickets include a copy of Granta 120: Medicine. Tickets can be bought at the door, but please RSVP to events@granta.com to reserve a seat.

Granta and the Liars’ League present a one-night-only performance of Chris Adrian’s mordantly funny story of an unravelling psyche. At the medical school of the University of California, San Francisco, a doctor takes to the stage to give a lecture on the burgeoning academic field of narrative medicine. However, his commentary on the subject is gradually overtaken by his own illness narrative and his strange, abusive relationship with his mother. The performance will last one hour. A bar will be on service on the night.

Ordinary Light: The Granta Art Salon at the Hospital Club
12 September, 7 p.m., The Hospital Club, 24 Endell Street, London WC2H 9HQ. RSVP is essential as space is extremely limited. THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.

In the second instalment of Granta’s art salon, A.L. Kennedy joins Brad Feuerhelm, whose vintage medical photography collection is featured in Granta 120: Medicine. Together with Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey, they’ll explore this rarely-seen collection and the maladies and mysteries of the body. After the event, enjoy a drink with fellow creative minds and Granta readers.

Anthony Shadid’s House of Stone
24 September, 7 p.m., Al Saqi Books, 26 Westbourne Grove, W2 5RH rsvp@granta.com for tickets

Granta editor John Freeman discusses Anthony Shadid’s memoir House of Stone with author Kamila Shamsie (Burnt Shadows), Hanan Al-Shaykh (Beirut Blues) and Jonathan Rugman (Channel 4 news).

Remembering Anthony Shadid
4 September 7.30 p.m., The Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QJ. £12.50, tickets are on sale here.

Anthony Shadid spent most of his professional career covering the Middle East, first for the Associated Press; then The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and finally The New York Times - for which he was working when he died in February this year while crossing the border out of Syria. At this special event we will be joined by friends and colleagues of Anthony Shadid to remember the life and work of this most esteemed journalist. The panel includes Nada Bakri (New York Times reporter and wife of Anthony Shadid), Jon Lee Anderson (author, international investigative reporter and staff writer for The New Yorker), Jonathan Rugman (foreign affairs correspondent at Channel 4 News) and Kareem Fahim (Middle East reporter for The New York Times).

Medicine

A Spoonful of Fiction: A Granta Salon
3 September, doors open at 6 p.m., event at 7 p.m., The Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street London E8 4RP. £10, includes a copy of Granta 120: Medicine. Click here or call The Last Tuesday Society for tickets: 08444 771000.

In this special edition of Liars’ League, actors from the live fiction salon perform stories of healing and the history of medicine by Rose Tremain and Terrence Holt, as featured in Granta 120: Medicine. Then, writer and broadcaster Colin Grant (Bageye at the Wheel, I & I: Marley, Tosh and Wailer), in conversation with Granta online editor Ted Hodgkinson, tells how he pursued and then quit medical school and reads from his new autobiographical novel extracted in granta.com. In association with Last Tuesday Society artist-in-residence Joanna Ebenstein of Brooklyn’s Observatory Gallery and the Morbid Anatomy blog.

An Evening with Rose Tremain
4 September, doors open at 6.45 p.m., event at 7 p.m., The Wellcome Collection Library, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE. Free, but tickets must be booked in advance by emailing events@granta.com.

Rose Tremain joins Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey for an exclusive preview event of her highly anticipated novel Merivel. Enjoy a reading and conversation on medicine and the relationship between a king and his favourite physician in the seventeenth century, a time when opium, brandy and prayer served as anaesthesia, and a scalpel was the only tool one could use to eradicate a cancer. Drinks will be served and there will be a special offer on Granta 120: Medicine and Merivel.

The Medicine Launch
5 September, 6.30 p.m., Foyles, 113-119 Charing Cross Road London WC2H 0EB. Free. RSVP to events@granta.com to reserve your seat.

From the chalky horse-pills of faceless pharmaceutical conglomerates to the hot toddy that was Grandmother’s remedy for bruised knees, broken hearts and everything besides – Granta 120: Medicine explores the stories of how we face our ailments and the ways we seek to cure ourselves. Join Granta editor John Freeman and contributors Ike Anya, M.J. Hyland and Suzanne Rivecca to launch the Medicine issue with readings, conversation and drinks.

In Treatment: Fact and Fiction
6 September, 7 p.m., The Freud Museum, 20 Maresfield Gardens, London NW3 5SX. £10/£7 concessions, proceeds support the museum. Entry to the museum’s exhibitions is included in the ticket price. The museum will be open before the event for viewing. Buy your tickets here.

How do writers make sense of the mind in fact and fiction? Join Granta at the Freud Museum for an evening of readings and conversation that probe the wild and unpredictable landscapes of the mind. Ike Anya will be reading from his piece in Medicine, which investigates the claim that 'People Don't Get Depressed in Nigeria'. Chloe Aridjis (Book of Clouds) writes on the psychological fall out of space travel on cosmonauts. Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey will host the evening.

Africa Utopia Festival: Imagining Africa: A Granta Salon
21 July, 12.30 p.m. Southbank Centre, The Front Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. Free, but booking is essential. Please reserve your tickets via the Southbank Centre.

Writers and artists including Aminatta Forna, Nadifa Mohamed, Diriye Osman and Michael Salu come together to explore how the realities of life across the continent find expression through art, film and writing. Hosted by Granta magazine.

21 July, 12.30 p.m. Southbank Centre, The Front Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. Free, but booking is essential. Please reserve your tickets via the Southbank Centre.

Writers and artists including Yinka Shonibare, Aminatta Forna, Diriye Osman and Michael Salu come together to explore how the realities of life across the continent find expression through art, film and writing. Hosted by Granta magazine.

Britain

London Literature Festival: Britain in the World
10 July, 7 p.m. Southbank Centre, Level 5 Function Room, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. £8, £4 concessions. Please book tickets online.

What do Britain's writers think and feel about the country they call home? Granta Britain contributors Ross Raisin, Rachel Seiffert and Andrea Stuart read extracts from their work and discuss how their writing inhabits the subject of Britain today.

They provide a snapshot of a nation of migrants and traditions, of a powerful past and an uncertain future, bound by class yet with a freedom that other nations envy. Where do you stand on Britain 2012?

How the Light Gets In: Dark Satanic Mills
5 June, 2.30 p.m. How the Light Gets In festival grounds, Globe at Hay, Newport Street, Hay-on-Wye HR3 5BG

From Tintagel and Camelot through to the dystopian 'inner city', has the shifting character of our accounts of the British landscape affected our identity? Are we still the nation of Shakespeare and Wordsworth, Turner and Constable, or is the old country gone forever? In its place should we be creating new landscapes with which to fashion new selves?

Novelists Jim Crace and Mark Haddon and author of Edgelands Michael Symmons Roberts explore visions of Britain's past, present and future with Granta's Ted Hodgkinson.

The Hospital Club Granta Salon: This is Britain
7 June, 7 p.m., The Loft Lounge at The Hospital Club, 24 Endell Street, London WC2H 9HQ. Call The Hospital Club for bookings and more information: 020 7170 9100.

Join us for our first arts salon at the Hospital Club. Mischka Henner, Yinka Shonibare and Ian Teh in conversation with Granta artistic director Michael Salu and deputy editor Ellah Allfrey about what British identity means today and how it is expressed in their work in the art showcase in Granta's Britain edition and beyond.

Dublin Writers Festival: Cultural Connections
7 June, 6 p.m.

Inspired by the British Council in Dublin’s current initiative on contemporary cultural relations, this stimulating event explores the ‘cultural imagination’ (how place is shaped in the mind and on the page) with respect to the relationship between Britain and Ireland. Seeking out the connections and convergences with Granta editor John Freeman are three acclaimed writers Lucy Caldwell, Keith Ridgway and Rachel Seiffert.

Worlds Literature Festival: Britain Launch
22 June, 7.30 p.m., Drama Studio, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ. £5

In 2012, Britain is a nation in flux, managing difficult socio-economic realities, contending with new political alliances and negotiating shifting demographics. Weaving together threads of politics, homecoming and family, Granta 119: Britain contributors Edmund Clark, Rachel Seiffert and Andrea Stuart explore disparate expressions of British identity through readings and conversation with Granta editor John Freeman. Clark's meditative photographic project of the homes left behind in Britain by British Guantanamo Bay detainees comments on the subjectivity of perception. In an excerpt from a novel in progress, Seiffert examines the close and complicated connection between Northern Ireland and Scotland through the eyes of a child in a Protestant, working-class family. Stuart's memoir looks back at the sugar trade, Barbados, her family's difficult inheritance as descendents of slaves and slave owners and, centuries later, her reverse migration across the Atlantic.

Brighton Festival: Is Britain Still Great?
9 May, 7.30 p.m., Brighton Dome, Corn Exchange, 12A Pavilion Buildings, Castle Square, Brighton BN1 1EE. Tickets £10, each ticket includes a copy of Granta 119: Britain.

Britain is a nation in flux, managing difficult socioeconomic realities, contending with new political alliances and negotiating shifting demographics. Yet it is a country still perceived as being bound by tradition and class structures. Chaired by Granta’s deputy editor Ellah Allfrey, this event features guest speakers Polly Toynbee (Brighton Festival Chair); Booker-shortlisted poet and author Adam Foulds (The Quickening Maze and Granta 119: Britain); journalist, author and broadcaster Sarfraz Manzoor; and Orange Prize-nominated author Kamila Shamsie (Burnt Shadows). Together they consider all these questions – and raise more – in a lively and timely debate.

The London Launch
10 May, 6.30 p.m., Waterstones, 203-206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD. Tickets £5, £3 for Waterstones' loyalty card holders, free for Granta subscribers. Tickets can be purchased in-store or by calling the store at 0843 290 8549.

To mark the launch of the Britain issue, Granta invites you to Waterstones Piccadilly for a festive evening of readings and conversation to explore the stories that Britain is telling about itself today. Authors joining us for this event and drinks reception with Britain contributors including Adam Foulds, A. L. Kennedy, Jamie McKendrick and Andrea Stuart. The discussion will be moderated by Granta editor John Freeman. This event also marks the start of a UK-wide events series hosted in collaboration with Waterstones.

The Edinburgh Launch
10 May, 6 p.m., Waterstones, 128 Princes Street, Edinburgh EH2 4AD. Tickets £2 (redeemable against a book purchase on the night), free to Granta subscribers. Purchase tickets through events.edinburgh@waterstones.com, in-store or by calling 0131 226 2666.

Granta invites you to Waterstones Edinburgh for a festive evening of readings and conversation with Granta’s online editor Ted Hodgkinson, author Kapka Kassabova, poet Don Paterson and photographer Ian Teh to explore the stories that Britain is telling about itself today. This event also marks the start of a UK-wide events series hosted in collaboration with Waterstones.

The Aberystwyth Launch
10 May, 6.30 p.m., Waterstones, 27 Great Darkgate Street, Aberystwyth SY23 1DE. Tickets £2, availble in-store by by calling the store at 01970 611 222.

Granta magazine hosts its first ever event in Aberystwyth to mark the launch of issue 119: Britain. With readings and conversation chaired by Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey, Granta contributor Cynan Jones and celebrated author Owen Martell explore the Welsh landscape, identity in the British Isles, masculinity and hunting for badgers. This event is held in collaboration with Wales Literature Exchange. This event is part of a UK-wide series of events that marks the launch of the latest issue of Granta magazine and explore the stories Britain is telling about itself today. In association with Wales Literature Exchange.

The Belfast Launch
10 May, 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m., New exhibition viewing from 7 p.m., Belfast Exposed Gallery, 23 Donegall Street Belfast BT1 2FF. Free.

Granta magazine hosts it first event in Belfast with the launch of issue 119 Britain. This edition of the magazine of new writing asks ‘What are the stories Britain is telling about itself today?’ Through reading and conversation with Granta associate editor Patrick Ryan and a curator from the Belfast Exposed Gallery, author Rachel Seiffert and photographer Anthony Rush will look at how British identities are expressed through art and literature. Seiffert will read from ‘Hands Across the Water’, a story of a declining marriage between a loyalist from Glasgow and a woman from Belfast, as viewed through the eyes of their perceptive young son.

Anthony Rush is featured in ‘Home’, an art showcase in Granta 119 that explores what British identity means today. The gallery is home to the Belfast Exposed Archive, which was used in a project about the Troubles by photographers Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin featured in Granta 114: Aliens. After the talk, enjoy a drinks reception and the opening of the latest exhibition at the gallery. This event is part of a UK-wide series of events that marks the launch of the latest issue of Granta magazine.

Britain in Writing: A Granta discussion
11 May, 6.30 p.m., British Library Conference Centre, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB. Tickets £7.50, £5 for Granta subscribers and concessions. Each ticket includes a copy of Granta 119.

How does the British landscape take shape in the minds of authors who write about Britain? As part of the launch of Granta 119: Britain, contributors Jim Crace and Andrea Stuart look back to the Enclosures and the sugar trade and to the lasting impression of these times today. Cynan Jones takes us to rural Wales on a dig for badgers. Through reading and conversation, these authors show the many ways Britain is expressed. As part of the event ‘Home’, an art showcase that looks at British identity today, will be exhibited. This discussion is part of a UK-wide series of events that marks the launch of the latest issue of Granta magazine and explores the stories Britain is telling about itself today.

Visions of Britain: A Granta discussion with Cynan Jones and Rachel Seiffert
15 May, 6.30 p.m., Waterstones, 174-176 Argyle Street, Glasgow G2 3EW. Ticket details to come.

As part of the launch of Granta 119: Britain, contributors Cynan Jones and Rachel Seiffert join Granta associate editor Patrick Ryan for an evening of readings and conversation. Jones, once a Glasgow resident, and Seiffert, whose story explores the failing marriage of a Glaswegian loyalist and his Northern Irish wife as seen through the eyes of their young son, explore the delicate human connections within the sometimes brutal context of historical and contemporary Britain. They write about boys who are reaching towards adulthood and the danger and pleasure of digging for badgers. This event is part of a UK-wide series of events that marks the launch of the latest issue of Granta magazine and explores the stories Britain is telling about itself today.

Visions of Britain: An evening with Granta and Jim Crace
15 May, 6.30 p.m.,Waterstones, 128 New Street, Birmingham B2 4DB. Tickets £3, redeemable against a copy of Granta bought on the night. Free entry for Granta subscribers. Contact the store for purchase.

Jim Crace is a master stylist and a gripping storyteller. His story in Granta 119: Britain is a gossipy and ribbing tale of barley farmers in the 16th century who face an imminent future of sheep farming as a result of the Enclosures. From the dream of a leisure society to dark omens of change, Jim Crace will read from and discuss this timeless tale and his other work with Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey. Readers of Jim Crace will not want to miss this event, which gives an early look at his forthcoming novel. This event is part of a UK-wide series of events that mark the launch of the latest issue of Granta magazine and explore the stories Britain is telling about itself today.

Visions of Britain: A Granta conversation
16 May, 7 p.m., The Brunswick Room, Guildhall, Bath, BA1 5AW. Tickets £4, £2 for customers of Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights, Granta subscribers and Bath Spa University students. RSVP to Dr. Paul Meyer to reserve tickets: p.meyer@bathspa.ac.uk.

Readings and discussion with Tessa Hadley, Cynan Jones and Granta editor John Freeman. In association with Bath Spa University.

Visions of Britain: A Granta discussion
16 May, 7 p.m., Waterstones, 14-16 Bold Street, Liverpool L1 4DS. Tickets, £3 (£2 to Waterstones loyalty card holders and free to Granta subscribers), available in store or by phoning the store at 0843 290 8455.

A footballer wrestles with his identity. Hedonism in Liverpool. The alienation, assimilation and struggle of youth. The perils of multicultural love. The work of authors Ross Raisin (Granta 119: Britain contributor, Waterline), Kevin Sampson (Awaydays, Powder) and Helen Walsh (Brass, Once Upon a Tine in England) has given voice to varied and poignant slices of life in Britain. Raisin, a contributor to the Britain issue joins these local authors for readings and conversation with Granta online editor Ted Hodgkinson to explore the landscapes, identities and stories of the British Isles, with a focus on northwestern England. This event marks the launch of Granta 119: Britain and is part of a worldwide conversation taking place at Waterstones across the UK and in other venues around the world.

Britain LIVE! A Liars' League Salon
16 May, 6.30 p.m., Waterstones York, 28-29 Ousegate, York YO1 8RX. Tickets £2, available in-store or by calling the store at 0843 290 8715.

In this special edition of Liars' League Leeds hosted by Granta's Yuka Igarashi, actors from the live fiction salon perform stories of violence, new frontiers and lust by Jim Crace and Mark Haddon, as featured in Granta 119: Britain. This event is part of a UK-wide series of events that mark the launch of the latest issue of Granta magazine and explore the stories Britain is telling about itself today.

Visions of Britain: A Granta discussion on storytelling and identity
17 May, 6.30 p.m., Waterstones, 91 Deansgate, Manchester M3 2BW. Free.

What builds community? How do the stories we tell about ourselves shape us? As part of a UK-wide launch of Granta 119: Britain, the magazine of new writing comes to Manchester to explore these questions with photographer Mishka Henner, novelist Nadifa Mohamed (Black Mamba Boy) and poet and author Michael Symmons Roberts (Breath, Edgelands). These contributors will join Granta’s Saskia Vogel to read from and discuss their work on assimilation of immigrant communities in Britain, the changing face of Manchester since the nineteenth century and the 2011 riots.

In ten vignettes, each examining a different building in Manchester, Roberts’ takes a lyrical journey through the evolution of work and life in the city from the Industrial Revolution to the office-based tertiary industries of today. Mohamed’s memoir sews together her own story of assimilation as a Somali-born woman in the UK by examining life in Somali communities across Britain. Henner reflects on the police response to the 2011 riots through portraits of alleged looters, compiled from the public domain. Henner is featured in ‘Home’, an art showcase in Granta 119 looking at the idea of British identity today.

Bristol Festival of Ideas: Visions of Britain: A Granta discussion
17 May, 6 p.m., Foyles, 6 Quakers Friars, Cabot Circus, Bristol, BS1 3BU. Free, but tickets can be booked here.

As part of the launch of Granta 119: Britain, contributors Cynan Jones and Rachel Seiffert join Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey for an evening of readings and conversation. Both Jones and Seiffert explore British identity with stories of adolescent boys reaching towards adulthood. Jones’s protagonist embarks on a hunt for badgers with his father. Seiffert explores the failing marriage of a Glaswegian loyalist and his Northern Irish wife as seen through the eyes of their young son. Jones and Seiffert explore the delicate human connections within the sometimes brutal context of historical and contemporary Britain and the moments that shape our identities.

On the Bench: A literary exploration of football and identity
17 May, doors at 6.30 p.m., event starts at 7 p.m., Waterstones, 93-97 Albion Street, Leeds LS1 5JS. Tickets £3, available from the store's Ground Floor tills or by calling 0113 244 4588. Tickets must be reserved, but are free for Granta subscribers.

Football may be 'the beautiful game,' but intertwined with the sublime physicality of the sport, life on and off the pitch shows the tears and ties of Britain. Author Ross Raisin and memoirist and journalist Anthony Clavane have both written about the sport and will join each other for readings and conversation that explore football, place and identity with Granta editor John Freeman. Raisin's story 'When You Grow Into Yourself' is featured in Granta 119: Britain. With startling emotional precision, Raisin depicts a young League Two footballer struggling with himself and struggling to find a place in his new club. Clavane's memoir Promised Land: Northern Love Story takes a wider look at football and how a city - in this case Leeds - and its football team are typified by the same charactertistics. This event marks the launch of Granta 119: Britain and is part of a worldwide conversation taking place at Waterstones across the UK and in other venues around the world.

Britain Live! A Liars’ League Salon
21 May, 6.30 p.m., Waterstones, 82 Gower Street, London WC1E 6EQ. Tickets are £5 and available from the shop. Fifteen free tickets have been reserved for Granta subscribers.

In this special edition of Liars' League hosted by Granta's Saskia Vogel, Rachel Seiffert joins us to read from and discuss ‘Hands Across the Water,' an extract from her novel-in-progress. In this story set in Glasgow, Seiffert looks at the complicated relationship between Northern Ireland and Scotland through the soured marriage of a drummer in a Loyalist band and a barmaid, as keenly observed by Stevie, their seven-year-old son. But first, actors from the live fiction salon Liars’ League perform stories of place, hope and identity from Granta’s latest issue. This event is part of a UK-wide series of events that mark the launch of the latest issue of Granta magazine and explore the stories Britain is telling about itself today.

Granta Britain Special with Lawrence Norfolk, Esther Freud and Andrea Stuart
22 May, 6 p.m. for 6.30 p.m., Bloomsbury Publishing, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP. Tickets £5 for students, £7 for Granta subscribers and £10 general admission. Each ticket includes a copy of Granta 119: Britain.

As part of the launch of Granta 119: Britain, the Bloomsbury Institute hosts a night of reading and conversation with Granta contributors Andrea Stuart, Lawrence Norfolk, Esther Freud and Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey. From the legacy of the sugar trade in London to the tale of a young boy who seeks refuge in the kitchen of a manor house after his mother is accused of witchcraft, to the shifting fortunes of actors in contemporary London, the authors explore how British identity is shaped by the sometimes brutal context of historical and contemporary Britain.

Norfolk’s forthcoming historical novel John Saturnall’s Feast, a story that charts one man’s life against the backdrop of revolution, cookery and ancient folklore, will be first extracted on Granta.com. This event is part of a UK-wide series of events that mark the launch of the latest issue of Granta magazine and explore the stories Britain is telling about itself today.

Britain

Visions of Britain: A Granta discussion with Jon McGregor
23 May, 6.30 p.m., Waterstones, 24-26 Orchard Square, Sheffield S1 2FB. Tickets £2, £1 for Waterstones cardholders and free to subscribers of Granta magazine. Tickets are available at the store's ground floor tills or by calling 0114 272 8971. Drinks will be served on arrival.

Jon McGregor’s ability to depict life in Lincolnshire with humor, gravity and intimacy has won him loyal readers across the British Isles. Soon after the release of his latest collection This Isn’t the Sort of Thing That Happens to Someone Like You, he has a new piece featured in Granta 119: Britain. ‘Clough’ is a haunting story set in Derbyshire about Emma-Jane, a five-year-old child who goes missing in the hills on a family holiday. The townspeople gather and search, among them Richard and Cathy: estranged lovers with a broken past. In this special evening with the author and Granta's Yuka Igarashi, McGregor reads from his work and discusses how we are united by tragedy and how the landscape shapes and captures the imagination. This event is part of the UK-wide launch of the Britain issue, exploring the stories Britain is telling about itself today.

Visions of Britain: A Granta discussion on storytelling and identity
23 May, 6.30 p.m., Waterstones, 68-69 Hampstead High Street, London NW3 1QP. Tickets £3, free to Granta subscribers, available in-store or by calling the store on 0207 794 1098.

The latest edition of Granta magazine explores the stories that Britain is telling about itself today, with new writing from celebrated authors such as Mark Haddon and Jim Crace. Booker Prize shortlisted author Rachel Seiffert (The Dark Room, Granta Best Young Novelist 2003) and prize-winning novelist Nadifa Mohamed (Black Mamba Boy) join Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey to explore bridging communities.

In her story in Granta 119: Britain, Seiffert looks at the complicated relationship between Northern Ireland and Scotland through the failing marriage of a drummer in a Loyalist band and a barmaid in Glasgow, as keenly observed by Stevie, their seven-year-old son. Mohamed’s memoir for Granta.com sews together her own story of assimilation as a Somali-born woman in the UK, host to the largest Somali population in Europe. She examines life in Somali communities in Britain, which started growing in the nineteenth century with seafarers and merchants and then again at the start of Somalia’s civil war in the 1980s. This event is part of a UK-wide launch series that marks the publication of the latest issue of Granta magazine.

Neither Earth Nor Sea: A Granta discussion with Robert Macfarlane and Jamie McKendrick
23 May, 6.30 p.m., Waterstones, 22 Sidney Street, Cambridge CB2 3HG. Ticket details to come.

Water. It laps against the circumference of the British Isles, creating idyllic and perilous coastlines. It creates passageways for goods and people and carves out borders. It drowned the town of Capel Celyn in Wales so Liverpool would be supplied with water. In Granta 119: Britain, the poet Jamie McKendrick looks at water as a force of destruction and source of beauty and Robert Macfarlane walks along the deadliest pathway in Britain, discovering a world that is ‘neither earth nor sea’. Join McKendrick, Macfarlane and Granta's Saskia Vogel for an evening of reading and conversation about how water shapes British life and captures the imagination. This event is part of a UK-wide series of events that mark the launch of the latest issue of Granta magazine and explore the stories Britain is telling about itself today.

The Britain Pub Quiz
24 May, 7 p.m., The Borough Lancaster, 3 Dalton Square, Lancaster LA1 1PP

Join Granta and Waterstones Lancaster for a Britain-themed pub quiz.

Britain LIVE!: A storytelling salon
24 May, 7.30 p.m., Waterstones, 71-74 North Street, Brighton BN1 1ZA. Tickets £3, redeemable against the purchase of a book on the evening, available in-store and by calling the store at 0127 320 6017, free for Granta subscribers.

Join Granta magazine to launch its latest issue, themed Britain. Nick Papadimitriou will read from his forthcoming book on Scarp, a suburban edgeland in North London, and discuss his work with Granta's Saskia Vogel. But first, actors will perform bawdy tales of British life from Granta’s latest issue. Drinks will be provided to round out this lively, festive night exploring the land and people of Britain.

London Book Fair

China Panel
17 Apr 2012, 10 a.m. - 11 a.m., Literary Translation Centre

Reflecting this year’s London Book Fair China Market Focus, Marysia Juszczakiewicz, founder of the Peony Literary Agency based in Hong Kong, translator, author and lecturer at Birkbeck, Julia Lovell and Ra Page, founder and Managing Editor of Comma Press share with Granta's Deputy Editor Ellah Allfrey their experiences of bringing contemporary Chinese literature to the UK and discuss the future of translated Chinese fiction in British publishing.

Literary Magazines in China

17 Apr 2012, 5 p.m. - 6 p.m.,Whitehall Room

New literary magazines, be it online or in print, are being launched on a daily basis in China. Former editor Ah Lai, Chutzpaheditor Ou Ning and literary critic Li Jingze and translator Eric Abrahamsen, both from Pathlight magazine, share their views on why this format is experiencing such a surge in popularity. Chaired by John Freeman.

Horror

The Shining Path: Santiago Roncagliolo in conversation with Oscar Guardiola Rivera
31 October, 6.30 p.m., Senate House, Room 349, Malet Street, London WC1E 6HU

The brutal tactics of the Shining Path, a Maoist guerrilla organization, widely affected the people of Peru. In his essay for Granta 117, Santiago Roncagliolo recalls how his childhood was shaped by the Shining Path and investigates the aftermath of terror on the country and on the insurgents themselves. Roncagliolo is a Granta Best Young Spanish-Language Novelist and winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for the novel Red April. Presented by Maria-José Blanco (IGRS, University of London).

Tales of Terror
1 November, doors open at 6 p.m., event starts at 7 p.m., The Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP

Join us for an evening of chilling tales and a chance to explore the macabre curiosities at Viktor Wynd’s little shop of horrors. Enjoy dramatic readings of a never-before-heard story by Stephen King and a reading and discussion with Sarah Hall. In association with the Hendrick’s Lecture Series and Liars’ League. Please visit The Last Tuesday Society for ticket information. Each ticket includes a copy of the magazine.

Granta 117: Horror, Nottingham Launch
1 November, 7 p.m., Waterstone's, 1-5 Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham, NG1 2GR. Tickets from £3

With Granta Online Editor Ted Hodgkinson, Santiago Roncagliolo reads from and discusses his investigation into The Shining Path, and Peru’s experience of living under the threat of terror.
Contact the store for ticket information or tel: 0843 290 8525

Granta 117: Horror, London Launch
2 November, 6.30 p.m., Foyles, 113-119 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EB

With Granta publisher Sigrid Rausing, Mark Doty and Will Self explore Walt Whitman’s correspondence with Bram Stoker, Dracula and the nature of blood.

An Evening with Mark Doty
3 November, 7 p.m., Gay's the Word, 66 Marchmont Street, London WC1N 1AB

Mark Doty explores the nature of blood, Bram Stoker and Walt Whitman through reading and conversation. Please RSVP to Gay's the Word's Facebook event listing or events@granta.com if you do not have a Facebook account.

Visions of Horror: A Salon
4 November, 7 p.m., The Hospital Club, 24 Endell Street, London WC2H 9HQ

Join Granta, Jake and Dinos Chapman and emerging artist Kanitta Meechubot to explore the dark corners of the imagination. With a special viewing of the Chapman's and Meechubot's artwork for Granta 117. Each ticket includes a copy of Granta and a drink. Tickets for Granta readers are £15 each (a £5 saving) if you quote 'Granta offer' when purchasing tickets directly from the venue on 020 7170 9100.

Exit Strategies

The London Launch
2 February, 6.30 p.m., Foyles, 113–119 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EB

Join Granta contributors and editors to celebrate the launch of Granta 118: Exit Strategies with drinks and a dramatic reading of Anne Tyler's 'The Beginner's Goodbye', an extract from her forthcoming novel that spotlights Aaron, a man whose home is the site of a freak accident that has both severly damaged his house and claimed the life of his beloved wife.

Exit Strategies Live
6 February, doors open at 6.30 p.m., event starts at 7 p.m., The Betsey Trotwood, 56 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3BL. £7, including a copy of Granta 118. Please RSVP to events@granta.com to reserve your place. Payment will be taken at the door.

In this special edition of Liars' League, Jon McGregor joins us to read from and discuss ‘In Winter the Sky’, his first-ever published story, found in Granta 78, and recently revised for his new story collection and the online edition of Exit Strategies. But first, actors from the live fiction salon perform stories of desire and conflict from Granta’s latest issue.

At Home and On the Range: A night with Laura Bell and Helen Simpson
5 March, 7 p.m., Chalk Farm Library, Sharpleshall Street, London NW1 8YL. Free. RSVP to events@granta.com.

American memoirist Laura Bell spent a lifetime working on the plains of Wyoming as everything from a cowgirl to running horse-pack trips. When her partner offered to support her while she wrote, Bell decided to follow someone else's lead for the first time in her life and discovered the pleasure and struggle of being 'a kept woman.' Helen Simpson's dark, hilarious explorations of life and love force us to ask why and how we came to be walking down a path that seems to lead only to apocalypse. Together, they will look back at their work in Granta's F Word issue and explore ideas of power, feminism and choice in an evening of reading and conversation. This is an unmissable night with Bell, an author on a rare visit to the UK, and one of Britain's greatest short story writers.

Ten Years Later

The Global Citizen and 9/11: Adventures in Travel and Security -- Pico Iyer in conversation with Ellah Allfrey
5 September, 6.45 p.m., Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP

Travel writer and novelist Pico Iyer will discuss his work in Granta 116: 10 Years Later, his adventures in travel and run ins with security pre and post 9/11, exploring his life in the context of being a global citizen of Indian heritage and his current life in Japan. For ticket information, please visit www.AsiaHouse.org or call 020 7307 5454.

10 Years Later, London Launch
6 September, 6.30 p.m., Foyles, 113-119 Charing Cross Road, London

One day in September, a decade ago, all eyes were turned in the same direction. Where are we looking now? Join photographer Edmund Clark, war reporter and Granta 116 contributor Janine di Giovanni and BBC Africa analyst Mary Harper for readings, discussion and drinks, moderated by Granta Deputy Editor Ellah Allfrey. Free. Please RSVP to events@granta.com.

Lost Liberty and Silence
8 September, 6.30 p.m., Free Word Center, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA £7/£5 concessions. Tickets include a copy of Granta 116

What is lost in the wake of terror? War reporter and Granta 116 contributor Janine di Giovanni, investigative journalist and co-author of Jilted Generation: How Britain Has Bankrupted Its Youth, Shiv Malek and novelist Kamila Shamsie, who also is on PEN's Board of Trustees, join Granta Deputy Editor Ellah Allfrey to explore this question. In association with English PEN. Buy tickets here.

CANCELLED - 9/11: How Remembering Tells Our Future
9 September, 7 p.m., Frontline Club, 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QJ. Tickets from £10. Each ticket includes a copy of Granta 116.

In the past decade, the events of September 11, 2001 have been told, retold and reflected on. But how has this story been told to support certain agendas? And how does how we remember a historical event impact our perspectives? Granta publisher Sigrid Rausing, Granta contributing editor and chinadialogue.net editor Isabel Hilton and openDemocracy editor Tony Curzon-Price discuss the media, memory and 9/11. In association with openDemocracy. Please click here to book tickets.

9/11: Ten Years On
11 September, 11 a.m., Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival, London Jewish Cultural Centre, Ivy House, 94-96 North End Road, London NW11 7SX

Political journalist David Aaronovitch, BBC broadcaster Gavin Esler, military expert Frank Ledwidge and editor John Freeman in discussion. For ticket prices and information, visit www.hamhighlitfest.com.

An interactive literary salon about travel, security and global living post 9/11. Free. Please RSVP to events@granta.com.

The F Word was launched on the 16th of May:

The Granta F Word Launch with Writers’ Centre Norwich
20 June, 7 p.m., UEA Drama Studio, 42-58 St George’s Street, Norwich NR3 1AB

An evening of conversation and stories in celebration of The F Word, with Urvashi Butalia, A.S. Byatt and Maja Hrgović. See the Writers’ Centre Norwich website for more information.

Global Feminisms: A Literary Exploration
16 May, 6.45 p.m., Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 7LP

F Word contributor and debut novelist Taiye Selasi join Wendy Law-Yone and Moni Mohsin to discuss women’s lives around the world with Deputy Editor Ellah Allfrey. Part of Asia House’s Festival of Asian Literature. Please click here for tickets.

Liars’ League Presents The F Word
17 May, 6.30 p.m., The Duke, 7 Roger Street, London WC1N 2PB

For this special edition of the rollicking literary salon, actors read work by Helen Simpson, Eudora Welty and Lydia Davis. Taiye Selasi will appear in person for a reading and discussion of her work in The F Word.

The Legacy: Feminism in Literature Today
18 May, 6.30 p.m., Foyles, 113-119 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0EB

Join us to celebrate the launch of the F Word. Contributors Rachel Cusk and Taiye Selasi talk about which writers passed feminism down to them, and what the word means to them today. Granta's publisher Sigrid Rausing will host the discussion. With readings from the issue and drinks. Email events@granta.com to reserve a place.

Shoreditch House Literary Salon
19 May, 7 p.m., Shoreditch House, Charles Square, London N1 6HL

Rachel Cusk joins Damian Barr’s renowned literary salon. RSVP on the Shoreditch House Facebook page.

Inheritance and Motherhood: A Literary Salon
20 May, 6 p.m., The Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ

An evening of art, animation, film, history and literature. Guests will have a private view of the Foundling Voices oral history project followed by a dramatic reading of a story from the F Word, a short talk by the curator and F Word contributor Maja Hrgovic in conversation with Deputy Editor Ellah Allfrey. Three animations inspired by the issue will be shown on this night only. Cash bar. Donation to museum suggested. Limited tickets; email events@granta.com.