Granta One Hundred

THE stars are out for the centenary edition of Britain's poshest creative writing mag. William Boyd guest-edits, Julian Barnes, Salman Rushdie and Martin Amis provide stories, Derek Mahon and Harold Pinter are on hand with poems.

All are interesting and admirable and just a little predictable - likewise Helen Simpson's eco vignette and Alan Hollinghurst's mini Rome tragedy. The big surprise is Ian McEwan, who has given us his in-progress libretto to For You, currently being scored by Michael Berkeley, due for premier in May.

With its deadly cancer and decent coppers, lovelorn doctor and lothario conductor, it looks set to really put the soap into opera.

Synopsis

In 1979, a young American graduate revived an old Cambridge university magazine and created a home for good writing of all kinds—reportage, fiction, memoir, biography—as well as photography and, occasionally, poetry. In the years that followed, Granta established itself on both sides of the Atlantic, and continues to publish the best new writing in English from all over the world. This special issue celebrates Granta's 100th issue.

Guest-edited by novelist William Boyd.