Granta Grows.

Granta has gone Swedish.

The very first issue of the venerable British literary magazine was published recently in Sweden by Albert Bonniers Förlag to great reviews: “A hopeful step forward for Swedish literature,” according to Swedish Radio’s culture news, for example.

Founded in Cambridge, England in the 19^th century, Granta published early works of a number of writers who later became famous, such as E.M. Forster, A.A. Milne and Sylvia Plath. In the late 1970s, the magazine underwent a complete overhaul and broadened its focus and reach. It also decided to go international with a Spanish edition, first published some ten years ago, followed by a number of other languages, including Chinese, Italian and now Swedish, each mixing original content with translated content from the British issue.

“Granta is a literary magazine for readers who are interested in culture and current events,” says Johanna Haegerström, editor-in-chief for the Swedish edition. “We want to highlight strong and eye-opening stories, regardless of whether they are short stories, novel excerpts, autobiography or reporting. The first issue included authors like Karin Johannisson, Amanda Svensson, Haruki Murakami, Peter Fröberg Idling and Junot Díaz.”

But why would a book publisher put out a magazine?

It’s actually nothing new, says Haegerström. Book publishers have traditionally published literary magazines. “One key reason for doing so is that we can take advantage of the knowledge and information existing within the publishing house, smack in the middle of the literary arena,” she says. “Granta is also actually something midway between a book and a magazine. It’s more like a book in terms of format and scope, and the content is geared toward original texts, so it fits in especially well with the rest of our publishing list.”

Reviews have been positive, and sales look promising, says Haegerström. “There’s been a widening empty space on Swedish magazine shelves for a really good broad literary magazine with short stories and reporting. It’s a tough market, but many have been waiting long for something like Swedish Granta and my goal is to truly fill that spot.”

The next issue will be out in November – the thick magazine comes out twice a year – and the theme for the issue will be “heritage.”

“Readers will find the same first-class and wild mix of writers and texts as in the first issue!” says Haegerström.