Best-selling author George Saunders known for his dark and funny short stories will speak Monday, Oct. 21, at The University of Toledo.

Saunders, whose most recent collection of short stories Tenth of December was published earlier this year, will give the 24th annual Richard M. Summers Memorial Lecture at 5 p.m. in Memorial Field House Room 2100.

Saunders is the author of the best-selling CivilWarLand in Bad Decline and Pastoralia, as well as numerous short stories in The New Yorker and travel pieces in GQ.

His book of essays, The Braindead Megaphone, landed him spots on “The Charlie Rose Show,” “Late Night With David Letterman” and “The Colbert Report.” This year, he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. He also has been recognized as a MacArther Genius Grant Fellow, which supports “extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits.”

“He’s a very compassionate writer,” said Dr. Tim Geiger, professor of English. “A lot of the themes and topics he addresses are about the human condition and what we’re doing here on this planet. The way he approaches that and the way he addresses it are very engaging to people.”

The Richard M. Summers Memorial Lecture honors the late Summers, a respected member of the Department of English who served as director of freshman English and as both a graduate and undergraduate adviser from 1966 until his death in 1988.

The lecture will be followed by a reception and a book signing in Libbey Hall, with some of Saunders’ books for sale courtesy of the Barnes & Noble University Bookstore.

Media Coverage
The Blade (Oct. 19, 2013)
The Blade (Oct. 21, 2013)

Tags: College of Languages Literature and Social Sciences