The Granta Podcast

Jeet Thayil is the author of four collections of poetry. His debut novel,Narcopolis – was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize – tells of a group of outsiders caught up in an underworld of opiates, sex and violence in Bombay. Part biography of that city, the novel also takes a turn into China, which is another important chapter in the story of how opium shaped the landscape and the individual lives shrouded in its smoke. Here Jeet Thayil talked to online editor Ted Hodgkinson about being shortlisted for the Booker, the images of Christ woven into the novel and an unexpected digression on Bladerunner.

Tan Twan Eng is the author of The Gift of Rain and most recently, The Garden of Evening Mists, which is currently shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Set during the Japanese occupation, the novel tells the story of a young law graduate who seeks respite in the plantations of the Cameron Highlands, where she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its secretive owner, Aritomo. Here Tan Twan Eng spoke to John Freeman about the of the art of shakkei or ‘Borrowed Scenery’ and being shortlisted for the Booker.

'Ordinary Light' is a selection of photographs which appears in the latest issue of Granta, Medicine, taken from Brad Feuerhelm's extensive collection. Including images from diverse periods of history which offer glimpses into overlooked moments of intimacy and sometimes, trauma. Here Brad spoke to online editor Ted Hodgkinson about the stories that lie behind his images from the issue and how his work is informed by his love of horror movies.

D.T. Max's Every Love Story is a Ghost Short: A Life of David Foster Wallace charts the prodigious rise, numerous breakdowns and sad end of one of the foremost writers of his generation. Here Wallace's biographer talks about why ‘David always wanted to be one David', the solace he found in twelve-step programmes and what his use of wiper-fluid, on a car ride with Jonathan Franzen, reveals about his prose style.

Medicine

Medicine

Claire Vaye Watkins speaks to online editor Ted Hodgkinson about uncovering ritual in relationships and drawing inspiration from cartoons, mythology and Paul Simon

Claire Vaye Watkins speaks to online editor Ted Hodgkinson about uncovering ritual in relationships and drawing inspiration from cartoons, mythology and Paul Simon

Peter Stamm speaks to online editor Ted Hodgkinson about imagining his characters as buildings, why he wants to have a room full of ugly objects and whether he believes that people - in his fiction and in life -can change.

Peter Stamm speaks to online editor Ted Hodgkinson about imagining his characters as buildings, why he wants to have a room full of ugly objects and whether he believes that people - in his fiction and in life -can change.

Poets Jo Shapcott and George Szirtes on their poems inspired by Titan's interpretations of Ovid.

Poets Jo Shapcott and George Szirtes on their poems inspired by Titan's interpretations of Ovid.

Sam Byers reads from 'Some Other Katherine' and talks to online editor Ted Hodgkinson about turning office life into fiction, writing women and coming to terms with one’s Britishness.

Sam Byers reads from 'Some Other Katherine' and talks to online editor Ted Hodgkinson about turning office life into fiction, writing women and coming to terms with one’s Britishness.

Selected in 2003 as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists, Rachel Seiffert has since published a collection of stories, Field Study, and a novel, Afterwards , and appears in the current issue of the magazine, Britain, with 'Hands Across the Water' Here Seiffert reads from this new piece of fiction and talks to to Yuka Igarashi about writing silences, the inescapability of history and the Troubles and learning to love her characters.