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 ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', '' Harper's'', ''

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to ...

'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a weekly column, ''American Psyche'', to the weekend magazine of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' between 2006 and 2008. A professor at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, Saunders won the National Magazine Award for fiction in 1994, 1996, 2000, and 2004, and second prize in the O. Henry Awards in 1997. His first story collection, ''CivilWarLand in Bad Decline'', was a finalist for the 1996

PEN/Hemingway Award The PEN/Hemingway Award is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingwa ...

. In 2006 Saunders received a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...

. In 2006 he won the

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

for his short story "CommComm". His story collection ''In Persuasion Nation'' was a finalist for the

Story Prize The Story Prize is an annual book award established in 2004 that honors the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. Each of two runners-up receives $5,000. Eligible books must be written in English and first p ...

in 2007. In 2013, he won the

PEN/Malamud Award The PEN/Malamud Award and Memorial Reading honors "excellence in the art of the short story", and is awarded annually by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. The selection committee is composed of PEN/Faulkner directors and representatives of Bernard Ma ...

and was a finalist for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

. Saunders's '' Tenth of December: Stories'' won the 2013

for short-story collections and the inaugural (2014)

Folio Prize The Rathbones Folio Prize, previously known as the Folio Prize and The Literature Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher The Folio Society for its first two years, 2014–2015. Starting in 2017 the sponsor is ...

. His novel ''

Lincoln in the Bardo ''Lincoln in the Bardo'' is a 2017 experimental novel by American writer George Saunders. It is Saunders's first full-length novel and was the ''New York Times'' hardcover fiction bestseller for the week of March 5, 2017. The novel takes place ...

'' (

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...

) won the 2017

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

Early life and education

Saunders was born in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

. He grew up in

Oak Forest, Illinois Oak Forest is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The city is out south-southwest of downtown Chicago in Bremen Township. Per the 2020 census, the population was 27,478. History Human habitation in Oak Forest began during the ea ...

near

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, attended St. Damian Catholic School and graduated from

Oak Forest High School Oak Forest High School is a public high school located in Oak Forest, Illinois. It is part of Bremen Community High School District 228 which also includes Tinley Park High School, Hillcrest High School and Bremen High School. It serves most of ...

in Oak Forest, Illinois. He spent some of his early 20s working as a roofer in Chicago, doorman in Beverly Hills, as well as a

slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

knuckle-puller. In 1981, he received a B.S. in

geophysical engineering Geoprofessions is a term coined by the Geoprofessional Business Association to connote various technical disciplines that involve engineering, earth and environmental services applied to below-ground (“subsurface”), ground-surface, and ground-s ...

from

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines, informally called Mines, is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, founded in 1874. The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on ener ...

Golden, Colorado Golden is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Censu ...

. 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." In 1988, he was awarded an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in creative writing from

, where he worked with

Tobias Wolff Tobias is the transliteration of the Greek which is a translation of the Hebrew biblical name he, טוֹבִיה, Toviyah, JahGod is good, label=none. With the biblical Book of Tobias being present in the Deuterocanon/Apocrypha of the Bible, To ...

. While there, he met Paula Redick, a fellow writer, who would become his wife. Saunders recalled, "we otengaged in three weeks, a Syracuse Creative Writing Program record that, I believe, still stands." Regarding his influences, Saunders has written:

Career

Background and work

From 1989 to 1996, Saunders worked as a

technical writer A technical writer is a professional information communicator whose task is to transfer information between two or more parties, through any medium that best facilitates the transfer and comprehension of the information. Technical writers researc ...

and geophysical engineer for Radian International, an

environmental engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline that encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and a ...

firm in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

. He also worked for a time with an

oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

crew in

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

in the early 1980s. Since 1997, Saunders has been on the faculty of

, teaching

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

in the school's MFA program while continuing to publish fiction and non-fiction. In 2006, he was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

and a $500,000

. He was a Visiting Writer at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

and

Hope College Hope College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Holland, Michigan. It was originally opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled. The first freshman college class matricu ...

in 2010 and participated in Wesleyan's Distinguished Writers Series and Hope College's Visiting Writers Series. His non-fiction collection, ''The Braindead Megaphone'', was published in 2007. Saunders's fiction often focuses on the absurdity of

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...

corporate culture Historically there have been differences among investigators regarding the definition of organizational culture. Edgar Schein, a leading researcher in this field, defined "organizational culture" as comprising a number of features, including a ...

, and the role of mass media. While many reviewers mention his writing's

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

tone, his work also raises moral and philosophical questions. The

tragicomic Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a serious ...

element in his writing has earned Saunders comparisons to

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

, whose work has inspired him. The

film rights A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

to ''CivilWarLand in Bad Decline'' were purchased by

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...

in the late 1990s; , the project was in development by Stiller's company,

Red Hour Productions Red Hour Productions or Red Hour Films is an American film production company operated by actor Ben Stiller and formerly with producer Stuart Cornfeld. In the past, Red Hour has had first-look deals with New Line Cinema, and currently has an exc ...

. Saunders has also written a

feature-length A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

based on his short story "Sea Oak". Saunders considered himself an Objectivist in his twenties but now views the philosophy unfavorably, likening it to

neoconservatism Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and ...

. He is now a student of

Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...

Buddhism.

Awards

Saunders has won the National Magazine Award for Fiction four times: in 1994, for "The 400-Pound CEO" (published in '' Harper's''); in 1996, for "Bounty" (also published in ''Harper's''); in 2000, for "The Barber's Unhappiness" (published in ''

''); and in 2004, for "The Red Bow" (published in ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

''). Saunders won second prize in the 1997 O. Henry Awards for his short story "The Falls", initially published in the January 22, 1996 issue of ''

''. His first short-story collection, '' CivilWarLand in Bad Decline'', was a finalist for the 1996

. In 2001, Saunders received a

Lannan Literary Fellowship The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

in Fiction from the

Lannan Foundation The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

. In 2006, he was awarded a

from the Guggenheim Foundation. That same year, he received a

. His short-story collection '' In Persuasion Nation'' was a finalist for

The Story Prize The Story Prize is an annual book award established in 2004 that honors the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. Each of two runners-up receives $5,000. Eligible books must be written in English and first p ...

in 2006. In 2006, he also won the

World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

for his short story "CommComm", first published in the August 1, 2005 issue of ''

''. In 2009, Saunders received an award from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

. In 2014, he was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

. In 2013, Saunders won the

for Excellence in the Short Story. His short-story collection '' Tenth of December'' won the 2013

. The collection also won the inaugural

in 2014, "the first major English-language book prize open to writers from around the world." The collection was also a finalist for the

, and was named one of the "10 Best Books of 2013" by the editors of the '' New York Times Book Review''. In a January 2013 cover story, ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

'' called ''Tenth of December'' "the best book you'll read this year." One of the stories from the collection, "Home", was a 2011

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...

finalist. In 2017, Saunders published his first novel, ''

'', which won the

and was a ''New York Times ''bestseller.

Awards and honors

Awards won

* National Magazine Award for Fiction, 1994 – "The 400-Pound CEO", short story, published in '' Harper's Magazine'' * National Magazine Award for Fiction, 1996 – "Bounty", short story, published in '' Harper's Magazine'' * National Magazine Award for Fiction, 2000 – "The Barber's Unhappiness", short story, published in ''

'' * National Magazine Award for Fiction, 2004 – "The Red Bow", short story, published in ''

'' * Second prize in the 1997

O. Henry Award The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry. The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...

s – "The Falls", short story, published in ''

'' (January 22, 1996 issue) *

– Lannan Literary Fellowship, 2001 *

, 2006 *

, Academy Award, 2009 *

– "CommComm", published in ''

'' (August 1, 2005 issue) *

for Excellence in the Short Story, 2013 *

, 2013 – '' Tenth of December: Stories'' *

, 2014 – '' Tenth of December: Stories'' *

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

, "10 Best Books of 2013", '' Tenth of December: Stories'' *

, Elected as Member, 2014 *

, 2017 – ''

'' *

, Inducted as Member, 2018 *

Premio Gregor von Rezzori The Premio Gregor von Rezzori (Gregor von Rezzori Award) is a literary prize awarded at the annual Festival degli Scrittori in Florence. The award was established in 2007 in honor of Gregor von Rezzori, a Mitteleuropean writer, author of novels and ...

, 2018 * Kulturhuset Stadsteatern International Literary Prize, 2018

Finalist honors

, 1996 – Finalist – '' CivilWarLand in Bad Decline'' *

, 2006 – Finalist – '' In Persuasion Nation'' *

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...

, 2014 – Finalist – '' Tenth of December: Stories'' *

, 2011 – Finalist – "Home" (short story)

Works

Novels

* ''

'' (2017)

Short fiction

* '' CivilWarLand in Bad Decline'' (1996) (

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

and a

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

) * '' 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)

Other

Essays and reporting

* * * * * *

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.

Notes

References

External links

*

Joel Lovell, ''

'', 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 National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

, 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 Lehigh Carbon Community College (LCCC), often pronounced "L-tri-C," is a public community college in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The school serves as the primary granter of associate degre ...

"George Saunders: On Story"
by Sarah Klein & Tom Mason
Redglass Pictures
''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', December 8, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Saunders, George 1958 births 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers American male essayists American male non-fiction writers American male novelists American male short story writers American speculative fiction writers Booker Prize winners Colorado School of Mines alumni Critics of neoconservatism Critics of Objectivism (Ayn Rand) Former Objectivists Granta people Living people MacArthur Fellows Nyingma Buddhists PEN/Malamud Award winners People from Amarillo, Texas Postmodern writers Syracuse University alumni Syracuse University faculty The New Yorker people Wesleyan University faculty World Fantasy Award-winning writers Writers from Chicago Writers from Texas 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters