George Saunders
“The Book of Saunders,” an up close and personal look at American short story master George Saunders, will air Friday, May 16, at 9:30 p.m. on WCNY TV.
Saunders, one of the world’s best short story writers, reflects on life, levity and the pursuit of his craft in the half-hour documentary. He’s the author of The New York Times bestseller “Tenth of December,” which was recently awarded the Story Prize and England’s Folio Prize. His other books include the critically acclaimed collections “Pastoralia” and “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline”; a bestselling children’s book; and an essay collection, “The Braindead Megaphone.”
In 2006, he was awarded the Pen/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story and was included in Time’s 2013 list of the 100 most influential people in the world. A recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Award, he teaches in the Creative Writing Program in the College of Arts and Sciences.
His convocation speech to College of Arts and Sciences graduates last year urging kindness and tolerance to others was published in The New York Times and went viral, garnering over one million views. It is the subject of a new book, “Congratulations, By the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness.”
The documentary, premiering on WCNY TV, is a production of Syracuse University Electronic Media Communications. Stu Lisson, executive producer and director, credits his production team and WCNY for helping share Saunders’ inspiring story with Central New York viewers. WCNY also has plans to air an interview with Saunders at a later date.
