Granta's best from 1993 & 1983

I posted the 2003 list under the thread "young uk writers..." but became curious about the previous lists. I thought these lists of writers, then heralded as best young writers (now decidedly middle-aged), would be a great conversation starter...

1993 list
Ian Banks, Ian M. Banks
Louis de Bernieres
Anne Billson
Tibor Fischer
Esther Freud
Alan Hollinghurst
Kazuo Ishiguro
A.L. Kennedy
Philip Kerr
Hanif Kureishi
Adam Lively
Adam Mars-Jones
Candia McWilliam
Lawrence Norfolk
Ben Okri
Caryl Phillips
Will Self
Nicholas Shakespeare
Helen Simpson
Jeanette Winterson

1983
Martin Amis
Pat Barker
Julian Barnes
Ursula Bentley
William Boyd
Buchi Emecheta
Maggie Gee
Kuzuo Ishiguro
Alan Judd
Adam Mars-Jones
Ian McEwan
Shira Naipaul
Philip Norman
Christopher Priest
Salman Rushdie
Lisa St. Aubin de Teran
Clive Sinclair
Graham Swift
Rose Tremain
A.N. Wilson

Well, from that list come two writers who I admire very much - Kazuo Ishiguro and Ian McEwan. I think also that Julian Barnes and Graham Swift are very good. I predict that all four of these will continue to produce quality work.
I love Rose Tremain although the quality of her novels varies slightly from one to the other.

Looking at the two lists, it would be hard not to argue that the UK had a golden generation of writers who came to the fore in the early 1980s. In addition to the writers listed by amanda above, Martin Amis is still one of the prose writers around (even if his personality can get in the way of the writing), and William Boyd has produced some excellent novels. Maggie Gee and Christopher Priest seem to be stuck in some netherland between mainstream acceptance and genre writing. Adam Mars-Jones is a good writer who has hardly produced anything (excluding all his journalism, of course).

I find it fascinating that Ian Banks is such a bestseller over in the UK (so they tell us) but he just doesn't fly here. I have read three of his SF novels and found them to be a bit more sophisticated read than most of the stuff over here. Dukedom is actually the Ian M/Ian Banks expert in the house. He hasn't started the new one but he liked Dead Air which, I think, was the previous.

I have read the most recent de Bernieres...er...Bird ...something was in the title. It was good but not stellar. I enjoyed Jeanette Winterson's Lighthousekeeping, a story about storytelling.

PAGES magazine has a big article on Martin Amis this month.

Jargoneer, I'm not familiar with Maggie Gee but your comment has me intrigued...

hanif kureishi has long been one of my faves. Granta has helped me discover a host of great authors

Amanda, is there a Rose Tremain you would recommend as a starter?

Tiffin, as another Rose Tremain fan I would recommend Restoration.

I ought to read it, then, as I've got a copy in the house... Once I finish a couple of others, currently in hand, I'll pair it with my Restoration-era non-fiction reading, for a view in-the-round. :)

Thanks, Pamelad! I've wishlisted it. Now if anyone knows the winning lottery numbers, I can clear my wishlist off...

Restoration is a hoot and a holler and a very fun read!

Does anyone have a more recent list (eg 2003) that we can look at to get a heads up on newer authors??

avaland started the following thread for the 2003 list.

Thank you very much, CK, for the organizational help.

I have pasted it here to keep the less well orientated (me) from getting lost.

I am amazed how prophetic Granta is - when you look at the list there are a fair few Booker nominees included! There are three or four names I do not recognize.

THE 2003 GRANTA LIST OF BEST YOUNG UK WRITERS

Sarah Waters
Monica Ali
Andrew O'Hagan
Dan Rhodes
Rachel Seiffert
Toby Litt
Rachel Cusk
Alan Warner
Nicola Barker
David Mitchell
Susan Elderkin
Stephen Gill
Peter Ho Davies
A. L. Kennedy
Ben Rice
David Peace
Hari Kunzru
Philip Hensher
Robert McLiam Wilson
Zadie Smith
Adam Thirlwell

Yep, and I'm going to get to that Rachel Seiffert novel just as soon as I finished 11 more African novels...

Just to mention that Ian Jack shouldn't be on the list, since he's the editor of the collection and pushing 60...
:-)

Thanks CK - I have edited out Ian Jack in the list on message 14.