#6: George Saunders 2016

Episode 6 of Rewrite Radio features George Saunders in an on-stage conversation with Calvin College English professor Lew Klatt at the 2016 Festival of Faith & Writing. A critically acclaimed author of essays, short stories, and now his first novel, LINCOLN IN THE BARDO, Saunders discusses a wide range of topics including the intimacy of storytelling, how weird narratives work to disrupt moral cul-de-sacs, and creative writing as a form of play.

George Saunders is the author of three essay collections and several works of fiction, including TENTH OF DECEMBER and LINCOLN IN THE BARDO. Among his many awards are the MacArthur “genius grant” and Guggenheim fellowships. In 1997, he joined the faculty of Syracuse University, where he is currently a professor of creative writing.

To help introduce Saunders's interview we called up Kirstin Valdez Quade, author of the much-lauded short story collection NIGHT AT THE FIESTAS, and a fellow speaker at the 2016 Festival. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and The Best American Short Stories, among other places. She’s also an assistant professor at Princeton University.