David Marchese at the New York Times:
Last fall, George Saunders was awarded the National Book Foundation’s medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In the speech introducing him, alongside a glowing rundown of his literary résumé — author of 13 books, a past National Book Award finalist — he was called “the ultimate teacher of kindness and of craft.” Pretty good, right? Well, mostly.
The craft part isn’t the issue. Saunders, who is 67 and has a new novel out this month called “Vigil,” about two angelic beings visiting the deathbed of an oil tycoon and climate-change-denial mastermind, has been a revered teacher in Syracuse’s prestigious creative-writing M.F.A. program since 1996. He has also taught fiction to countless laypeople: His 2021 nonfiction work, “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain,” was a book-length distillation of his teaching that, probably to the surprise and delight of his publisher, became a best seller. And out of it came a Substack called Story Club With George Saunders, in which he continues to teach short stories and also shares writing prompts and exercises to more than 300,000 followers.
But then there’s the kindness stuff.
More here.
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