George Saunders
George Saunders | |
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Born | Amarillo, Texas, U.S. | December 2, 1958
Occupation |
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Language | English |
Education | |
Period | 1986–present [a] |
Notable works |
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Notable awards |
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Spouse | Paula Redick[1] |
Children | 2[2] |
Website | |
www |
George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in
A professor at
His story collection In Persuasion Nation was a finalist for the
Early life and education
Saunders was born in Amarillo, Texas. He grew up in Oak Forest, Illinois, near Chicago, attended St. Damian Catholic School and graduated from Oak Forest High School in Oak Forest, Illinois. He spent some of his early twenties working as a roofer in Chicago, a doorman in Beverly Hills, and a slaughterhouse knuckle-puller.[10][11] In 1981, he received a B.S. in geophysical engineering from Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. Of his scientific background, Saunders has said, "any claim I might make to originality in my fiction is really just the result of this odd background: basically, just me working inefficiently, with flawed tools, in a mode I don't have sufficient background to really understand. Like if you put a welder to designing dresses."[12]
In 1988, he was awarded an M.A. in creative writing from Syracuse University, where he worked with Tobias Wolff.[13] At Syracuse, he met Paula Redick, a fellow writer, whom he married. Saunders recalled, "we [got] engaged in three weeks, a Syracuse Creative Writing Program record that, I believe, still stands".[1]
Of his influences,[13] Saunders has written:
I really love Russian writers, especially from the 19th and early 20th Century: Gogol, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Babel. I love the way they take on the big topics. I'm also inspired by a certain absurdist comic tradition that would include influences like Mark Twain, Daniil Kharms, Groucho Marx, Monty Python, Steve Martin, Jack Handey, etc. And then, on top of that, I love the strain of minimalist American fiction writing: Sherwood Anderson, Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, Tobias Wolff.[14]
Career
Background and work
From 1989 to 1996, Saunders worked as a technical writer and geophysical engineer for Radian International, an environmental engineering firm in Rochester, New York. He also worked for a time with an oil exploration crew in Sumatra in the early 1980s.[11][15]
Since 1997, Saunders has been on the faculty of
Saunders's fiction often focuses on the absurdity of
Ben Stiller bought the film rights to CivilWarLand in Bad Decline in the late 1990s; as of 2007[update], the project was in development by Stiller's company, Red Hour Productions.[19] Saunders has also written a feature-length screenplay based on his short story "Sea Oak".[20]
Saunders considered himself an Objectivist in his twenties but now views the philosophy unfavorably, likening it to neoconservatism.[21] He is a student of Nyingma Buddhism.[2]
Awards
Saunders has won the
His first short-story collection, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, was a finalist for the 1996
In 2001, Saunders received a
In 2006, Saunders was awarded a
In 2009, Saunders received an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.[31][32] In 2014, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[33]
In 2013, Saunders won the
In 2017, Saunders published his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the Booker Prize and was a New York Times bestseller.
Awards and honors
Year | Title | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | "The 400-Pound CEO" | National Magazine Award
|
Fiction | Won | |
1996 | "Bounty" | National Magazine Award
|
Won | ||
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline | PEN/Hemingway Award | — | Shortlisted | ||
1997 | "The Falls" | O. Henry Awards | — | 2nd prize | |
2000 | "The Barber's Unhappiness" | National Magazine Award
|
Fiction | Won | |
2003 | "The Red Bow" | Bram Stoker Award | Short Fiction | Shortlisted | |
2004 | National Magazine Award
|
Fiction | Won | ||
2006 | In Persuasion Nation | The Story Prize | — | Shortlisted | |
"CommComm" | World Fantasy Award | Short Story | Won | ||
2011 | "Home" | Bram Stoker Award | Short Fiction | Shortlisted | |
2013 | Tenth of December: Stories | Goodreads Choice Award | Fiction | 10th | |
The Story Prize | — | Won | |||
2014 | National Book Award | Fiction | Shortlisted | ||
The Writers' Prize | — | Won | |||
2017 | Lincoln in the Bardo | Booker Prize | — | Won | |
2018 | Locus Award | First Novel | Nom (4th) | ||
Premio Gregor von Rezzori | — | Won | |||
2023 | — | Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction | — | Won | [41][42][43] |
Other honors
- Lannan Foundation– Lannan Literary Fellowship, 2001
- MacArthur Fellowship, 2006
- Guggenheim Fellowship, 2006
- American Academy of Arts and Letters, Academy Award, 2009
- PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, 2013
- The New York Times Book Review, "10 Best Books of 2013", Tenth of December: Stories
- American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Elected as Member, 2014
- American Academy of Arts and Letters, Inducted as Member, 2018[44][45]
- The House of Culture (Stockholm) International Literary Prize, 2018
Selected works
Story collections
- CivilWarLand in Bad Decline (1996) (short stories and a novella)
- Pastoralia(2000) (short stories and a novella)
- In Persuasion Nation (2006) (short stories)
- Tenth of December: Stories (2013) (short stories)
- Liberation Day: Stories (2022) (short stories)
Novels
- Lincoln in the Bardo (2017)
Nonfiction
- — (2007). The Braindead Megaphone (collected essays).
- — (2021). A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life.[46][16]
Essays and reporting
- — (2006). A bee stung me, so I killed all the fish (notes from the Homeland 2003–2006). Riverhead Books.[47]
- — (Autumn 2009). "The View from the South Side, 1970". Granta (108): 120–122.
- — (2014). "Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness".[48]
- — (July 11–18, 2016). "Trump days: up close with the candidate and his crowds". American Chronicles. The New Yorker. Vol. 92, no. 21. pp. 50–61.[49]
Anthologies
- Fakes: An Anthology of Pseudo-Interviews, Faux-Lectures, Quasi-Letters, "Found" Texts, and Other Fraudulent Artifacts, edited by David Shields and Matthew Vollmer (2012)
- Cappelens Forslags Conversational Lexicon Volume II, edited by Pil Cappelen Smith, published by Cappelens Forslag (2016) ISBN 978-82-999643-4-0
Interviews
- "Choose Your Own Adventure: A Conversation With Jennifer Egan and George Saunders". New York Times Magazine, November 2015.
- "A Conversation with George Saunders". Image Journal, 2016.
- "George Saunders: The Art of Fiction No. 245". The Paris Review, issue 231 (Winter 2019).
- "An Interview with George Saunders". Believer Magazine, January 2021.
- "George Saunders on A Swim in a Pond in the Rain." Mayday, March 2021.
Other
Title | Year | First published | Reprinted/collected | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
I can speak!™ | 1999 | Saunders, George (June 21–28, 1999). "I can speak!™". The New Yorker. |
|
Often acclaimed as among his best short stories.[50][51] |
The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip | 2000 | Children's book | ||
"Four Institutional Monologues" | 2000 | McSweeney's | 4th story included in In Persuasion Nation | Originally released as a booklet[52] |
The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil | 2005 | Novella | ||
"Fox 8"[53] | 2013, 2018 | Fox 8 (2018) | First released as an e-book in 2013, the story was later published in hardcover by Random House in 2018.[54] | |
"A Two-Minute Note to the Future" | 2014 | Aphoristic essay on brown paper Chipotle bag.[55] | ||
"Love Letter" | 2020 | The New Yorker, April 6, 2020 | The Best American Short Stories 2021 | |
"Thursday" | 2023 | The New Yorker[56] |
Notes
- Northwest Review, Volume 24, Number 2, in 1986."
References
- ^ a b Saunders, George. "My Writing Education: A Time Line". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
- ^ a b Lovell, Joel (January 3, 2013). "George Saunders Has Written the Best Book You'll Read This Year". The New York Times. The New York Times Magazine.
- ^ "American psyche | Life and style". The Guardian. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ a b World Fantasy Convention (2010). "Award Winners and Nominees". Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ^ "Saunders Wins PEN/Malamud Award". Pw.org. Archived from the original on May 5, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
- ^ a b Dark, Larry (March 5, 2014). "TSP: George Saunders Wins His First Book Award, The Story Prize, for Tenth of December". The Story Prize (Press release). Retrieved September 25, 2022.
- ^ Washington Post. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
- ^ a b "Tenth of December by George Saunders wins inaugural Folio Prize 2014" (PDF). Folio Prize. March 10, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
- ^ "Booker winner took 20 years to write". bbc.com. October 18, 2017.
- ^ Dankowski, Terra (September 1, 2022). "Newsmaker: George Saunders". American Libraries. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
- ^ a b Miller, Laura (April 26, 2000). "Knuckle-puller makes good". Salon.com. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ Childers, Doug (July 1, 2000). "The Wag Chats with George Saunders". The Wag. Retrieved June 4, 2007.
- ^ a b c Enslin, Rob (May 24, 2022). "Writing a Legacy". Syracuse University. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ "George Saunders – Cultivating Thought". June 3, 2016. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
- ^ "Ayn Rand is for children". Salon.com. January 19, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
- ^ a b Moore, Sophia (November 16, 2022). "George Saunders talks teaching, life experience and writing at Alumni Academy". The Daily Orange. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
- ^ Silverblatt, Michael (December 27, 2007). "George Saunders: The Braindead Megaphone". Bookworm. KCRW. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
- ^ Saunders, George. "God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut". Amazon. Retrieved June 4, 2007.
- ^ Whitney, Joel. "Dig the Hole: An Interview with George Saunders". Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2007.
- ^ Vollmer, Matthew. "'Knowable in the Smallest Fragment': An Interview with George Saunders". Retrieved June 1, 2007.
- ^ Bemis, Alec Hanley (May 10, 2006). "Mean Snacks and Monkey Shit". LA Weekly. pp. 12–27. Archived from the original on September 4, 2006. Retrieved June 4, 2007.
- ^ "Winners and Finalists Database". ASME. Archived from the original on October 10, 2018. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ^ "The Falls". The New Yorker.
- ^ "The O. Henry Prize Stories".
- ^ "George Saunders". newyorker.com. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ Clark, Judi. "George Saunders". Lannan Foundation. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation". Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ "George Saunders". MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ "The Story Prize - Winners & Finalists 2012". Archived from the original on April 15, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
- ^ "Commcomm". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ Staff (April 14, 2009). "The American Academy Of Arts And Letters Announces 2009 Literature Award Winners" (PDF) (Press release). New York: American Academy of Arts and Letters. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
- ^ "2009 Literature Award Winners". artsandletters.org. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ "Press Releases". American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
- ^ "Past Award Winners". penfaulkner.org. PEN/Faulkner. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ "The 2014 Folio Prize Shortlist is Announced". Folio Prize. February 10, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
- ^ Wood, Gaby (February 10, 2014). "Folio Prize 2013: The Americans are coming, but not the ones we were expecting". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on February 11, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
- ^ "2013 National Book Award". nationalbook.org.
- ^ "The 10 Best Books of 2013". New York Times. 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
- ^ Lovell, Joel (January 3, 2013). "George Saunders Just Wrote The Best Book You'll Read This Year". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
- ^ "Bram Stoker Award 2011 Nominees". Locus Magazine. 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- ^ Knobel, Leah (July 6, 2023). "George Saunders to Receive 2023 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction". Library of Congress (Press release). Washington, D.C. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- The Library of Congress. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- Syracuse University News. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- ^ "2018 Newly Elected Members – American Academy of Arts and Letters". artsandletters.org. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ Boll, Carol (March 9, 2018). "George Saunders Elected to Academy of Arts and Letters". SU News. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
- ^ Promotional chapbook of essays, limited to 500 copies to accompany the book In persuasion nation
- ^ Convocation speech delivered at Syracuse University for the class of 2013
- ^ Online version is titled "Who are all these Trump supporters?".
- ^ "#14: I Can Speak!™ by George Saunders". Archived from the original on July 12, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ "On George Saunders: "The Barber's Unhappiness" and "I CAN SPEAK!"". November 18, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ "Excerpts from McSweeney's Quarterly: Four Institutional Monologues".
- TheGuardian.com. Archived from the originalon January 17, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
- ^ Preston, Alex (November 27, 2018). "Fox 8 by George Saunders review – wisdom in the woods". The Guardian. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
- ^ "Aphoristic essay on brown paper Chipotle bag". June 3, 2016. Archived from the original on June 3, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
- ^ "George Saunders Reads "Thursday"". The New Yorker. June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
External links
- Official website
- "George Saunders Has Written the Best Book You'll Read This Year", Joel Lovell, The New York Times Magazine, January 3, 2013
- 10 Free Stories by George Saunders Available on the Web
- "Adjust Your Vision: Tolstoy's Last and Darkest Novel", George Saunders, NPR, January 6, 2013
- "Radio Interview with George Saunders" on Read First, Ask Later (Ep. 27 – Season Finale) 2014 - college radio book talk show - Lehigh Carbon Community College
- "George Saunders: On Story", by Sarah Klein & Tom Mason, Redglass Pictures, The Atlantic, December 8, 2015