Granta #172

From Nobel laureates to debut novelists, international translations to investigative journalism, each themed issue of Granta turns the attention of the world’s best writers on to one aspect of the way we live now. 

The ‘Badlands’ issue refers to ‘inhospitable terrain, whether on the land or in the mind’. Inside: reportage by William T. Vollmann from Ukraine; Annie Ernaux reflects on her relationship with an older sister who died before Annie was born; Cian Oba-Smith photographs an annual fireworks festival in Tultepec; Sana Badri visits London’s corner shops; and poetry from Paul Muldoon on the prisoners of Alcatraz.