Like everyone else, GalleyCat likes a good party. McNally Jackson Bookstore hosted the launch party for the literary magazine, Granta in celebration of the issue, Granta 111: Going Back. The theme of this issue is “memory.” Highlights of the night included a full house, cups of wine, and a wonderful reading session enjoyed by all.
In attendance were the editor, John Freeman and three contributors to the issue, Nicholas Christopher, Joseph O’Neill, and Claire Watkins. Each contributor offered a different medium of art that they read to the eager audience. Nicholas Christopher read his narrative poem, On Jupiter Place. Joseph O’Neill read the caption accompanying his photograph, Losed. Claire Watkins offered the longest piece of night, a short story she wrote entitled, The Last Thing We Need.
When asked how she invented the story for the character, Watkins answered: “To be honest, I stole this story from an old boyfriend I had. He actually went out to the desert and found the debris featured. A lot of the things found are included in the story. I had the list of debris pieces. The first letter is from him. Everything else was completely mine.”