“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”
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George Saunders
George Saunders is an American writer. He is best known for his short stories and his novel Lincoln in the Bardo (2017), which won the Booker Prize. Saunders's short stories have been published as several collections, including CivilWarLand in Bad Decline (1996) and Tenth of December: Stories (2013).
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culture · American writer (born 1958) · translator · essayist · journalist · prose writer · writer · geophysicist · geological engineer · fantasy author · short story writer · university teacher · also George Saunders, Saunders
Born 2 December 1958 · Q1251926
34 published statements · 0 followers
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2026· 4 entries
The Guardian: What we’re reading: George Saunders, Erin Somers and Guardian readers on the books they enjoyed in January
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The Guardian: Vigil by George Saunders review – will a world-wrecking oil tycoon repent?
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The Guardian: ‘How do you really tell the truth about this moment?’: George Saunders on ghosts, mortality and Trump’s America
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2025· 1 entry
The National Book Foundation presented its 2025 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters (DCAL) to Saunders at the 76th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner
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2023· 3 entries
The Guardian: This month’s best paperbacks: George Saunders, Paterson Joseph and more
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The Guardian: Liberation Day by George Saunders audiobook review – funny, poignant and surreal short stories
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Awarded Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction (2023).
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2022· 4 entries
The Guardian: Liberation Day by George Saunders review – a hell of a ride
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The Guardian: Liberation Day by George Saunders review – a world of tricks and treats
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The Guardian: ‘Could I understand the people who rushed into the Capitol?’: George Saunders on how stories teach empathy
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The Guardian: Always wanted to write? Booker winner George Saunders on how to get started
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2017· 2 entries
Awarded Booker Prize for Lincoln in the Bardo (2017).
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Saunders published his first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the Booker Prize and was a New York Times bestseller
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2014· 2 entries
Awarded The Writers' Prize (2014).
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Was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
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2013· 4 entries
Awarded PEN/Malamud Award (2013).
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Time magazine named Saunders one of its 100 most influential people
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Saunders won the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story
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Won the PEN/Malamud Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award
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2010· 1 entry
And participated in Wesleyan's Distinguished Writers Series and Hope College's Visiting Writers Series
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2009· 1 entry
Saunders received an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
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2006· 6 entries
Awarded Guggenheim Fellowship (2006).
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Awarded World Fantasy Award for Best Short Fiction for CommComm (2006).
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Awarded MacArthur Fellows Program (2006).
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Saunders received a MacArthur Fellowship and won the World Fantasy Award for his short story "CommComm"
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Was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship
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Saunders was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
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2001· 1 entry
Saunders received a Lannan Literary Fellowship in Fiction from the Lannan Foundation
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1994· 4 entries
Won award: Saunders has won the National Magazine Award for Fiction four times (1994).
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Awarded National Magazine Award (1994).
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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 The New Yorker); and in 2004, for "The Red Bow" (published in Esq
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1996, 2000, and 2004, and second prize in the O
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1958· 1 entry
Born 1958-12-02.
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