Granta launches hunts for Best of Young British Novelists

Granta Magazine has opened submissions for the fifth edition of its Best of Young British Novelists list, to be released in spring 2023.

The edition, which is produced every 10 years, will feature the decade's most promising young writers.

Since the first Best of Young British Novelists issue in 1983, Granta has championed the work of authors who have changed the landscape of British literature. In 1983, featured writers included Kazuo Ishiguro, Salman Rushdie, Julian Barnes, Martin Amis and Pat Barker, among others. Subsequent editions have highlighted the work of Zadie Smith, Nicola Barker, Ben Okri, Jeanette Winterson and others.

The judging panel for the 2023 edition features Tash Aw, Rachel Cusk, Andrew O'Hagan and Helen Oyeyemi, and will be chaired by magazine editor Sigrid Rausing.

Speaking to The Bookseller, Rausing said of the edition: "We do this every ten years, and each time I am astonished by the talent out there. At the moment, I am reading a lot of authors not yet published, and some of them are people who will undoubtedly become big names in the years to come. It’s a very exciting process, and a privilege to get this kind of preview of the literary field."

Authors can be nominated by agents and publishers via the Granta website. To be eligible, authors must have at least one work of fiction published by, or be under contract with, a UK publisher. They must be born on or after 1st April 1983, and hold British citizenship, or reside in the UK. Books and manuscripts that are submitted should be literary fiction, including autofiction and fictional hybrid memoirs.