Granta Trust is launching a new publishing imprint, Granta Magazine Editions, with an inaugural list of three titles in translation slated for 2025.
The first title is German author Judith Hermann's We Would Have Told Each Other Everything, translated by Katy Derbyshire, which is launching in April. The book, which evolved from a lecture series, comprises three essays that sit between fiction and autobiography, according to Luke Neima, deputy editor of Granta Magazine and managing director of Granta Trust, who is overseeing the new imprint. This first title will be published in the U.K. only, with FSG set to publish the U.S. edition in December 2025.
The first book for the U.S. market is German novelist Leif Randt's Allegro Pastel, translated by Peter Kuras, coming in May. "It's a very contemporary novel with shades of Ben Lerner or Sally Rooney," Neima said. "It reflects on internet culture from a Berlin perspective." This will be followed in June by Hunter, a short story collection by Chinese writer Shuang Xuetao, translated by Jeremy Tiang. "He has this outsized influence in China that hasn't broken out here yet," Neima said. Shuang's work has appeared regularly in The New Yorker.
Initial print runs for the new imprint will start at approximately 3,000 copies, and distribution in the U.S. will be through Ingram.
The new imprint emerged from Granta magazine's recent emphasis on geographical spotlight issues, Neima explained. The magazine published a special issue on German literature in 2023, followed by an issue focusing on contemporary Chinese writing in 2024. "When we do these geographical spotlights, our team spends a huge amount of time delving into what's happening in the contemporary literary scene," Neima said. "We found these excellent writers who had books that just weren't getting picked up by Anglo publishers."
An upcoming issue later this year will focus on India, and will offer translations from a wide range of Indian languages, including Hindi and Malayalam, among others.
Granta Magazine Editions is distinct from Granta Books, though they share staff and office space. "The main idea behind the imprint is it's built for books that come out of the magazine," Neima said. "As the magazine is a not-for-profit, I think we're better set up to take those sorts of risks on highly literary books."
The magazine, which maintains a circulation of approximately 17,000 subscribers, has begun several new initiatives in recent years, including an online writers' workshop program launched in mid-2023, which offers courses in memoir writing, nature writing, longform journalism, and short stories. A novel-writing course will be announced next month. The program features asynchronous sessions and live interactions with authors, agents, and editors. The magazine's next issue, the sports-themed issue Winners, arrives in late February featuring a lead piece by Nico Walker, author of Cherry, examining American football's cultural impact.
