The revival in 1979 of what used to be a student literary magazine at Cambridge University is unlikely to have been as successful had its new founders stuck to the original concept of "writing about writing." Intended initially as a forum for literary discussions, Granta developed into a venue for seminal literary creation, with both fiction and nonfiction prose, and its success went unmatched. Granta has made outstanding contributions to contemporary English literature, and this anniversary volume provides solid proof of its influence. Drawn from the first 21 years of the magazine's history, it includes an eclectic mix of the best contributions in fiction, memoir, and essays by such writers as Nadine Gordimer, Salman Rushdie, Isaiah Berlin, Seamus Deane, and Diana Athill. Pieces are reproduced in chronological order, generally one piece for each year. Topics vary from the social to the political to the literary and include marriage and divorce, the demise of the Soviet Union, Cambodia's political predicament and the emergence of Pol Pot, and writing, publishing, and the crisis of the English novel.