The Granta Generation: British Novelists of the 1980s

Who is this course for?

Anyone who enjoys reading and discussing novels and/or with an interest in the 1980s in Britain.

This course takes its cue from Granta Magazine choosing its ‘Best of Young British Novelists’ for the first time in 1983, showcasing the work of all 20 in its Issue 7. At the time, change was in the air for British fiction; the first creative writing courses were producing the likes of Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwan, while the success of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children was opening the door to writers with non-standard backgrounds. The careers of now-celebrated authors like Pat Barker, Rose Tremain and Julian Barnes were just beginning, while other writers named in Granta’s list, such as Ursula Bentley and Clive Sinclair, are now little-remembered.

On this course we will look back at this exciting and fertile period in British literature by reading the published extracts of all 20 writers, followed by two representative full novels: Pat Barker’s Union Street (1982) and Graham Swift’s Waterland (1983).

By the end of this course you should be able to:

· Identify the writers considered to be the ‘best of young British novelists’ in 1983

· Discuss the social issues and concerns highlighted by their work in the context of the decade

· Analyse the literary qualities of selected writers and reasons for their subsequent success or otherwise