Simon Gray

Simon Gray, one of England’s foremost playwrights and writers, died on Wednesday, August 6. His association with Granta began with The Smoking Diaries (2004), the first volume of his memoirs, which he was encouraged to publish by Granta’s then editor, Ian Jack, after an extract was published in the magazine. Its success was followed by two more volumes of memoir, The Year of the Jouncer (2006) and The Last Cigarette (2008). Gray had just finished a fourth volume, Coda, before his death. It will be published jointly by Granta Books and Faber in November 2008. He is mourned and will be greatly missed by everybody at Granta and Granta Books.