George Saunders

George Saunders

George Saunders was born on December 2nd, 1958 and is currently 67 years old. George Saunders was born in Amarillo, Texas, USA. Saunders attended Colorado School of Mines where he received a B.Sc. and Syracuse University where he received an M.A.

George Saunders is the author of 6 Collections. The first collection published was CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, in 1996. The most recently published collection was Liberation Day: Stories which was released in 2022. There are no upcoming collections.

George Saunders: Awards & Accolades

George Saunders won the Library of Congress Prizes, American Fiction, in 2023.

Saunders' books have also won multiple awards, Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventeenth Annual Collection won the Bram Stoker Awards, Superior Achievement in an Anthology, in 2004. CommComm won the World Fantasy Award, Short Fiction, in 2006. Lincoln in the Bardo won the Booker Prize, Best Fiction Book, in 2017 as well as the Audie Award - Audiobook of the Year in 2018.

The following novels by George Saunders were also nominated for these awards:

• The Red Bow: Bram Stoker Awards, Superior Achievement in Short Fiction (2003).
• Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Seventeenth Annual Collection: British Fantasy Award, Best Anthology (2005).
• Home: Bram Stoker Awards, Superior Achievement in Short Fiction (2011).
• Tenth of December: Goodreads Awards, Best Fiction (2013). National Book Awards, Best Fiction (2013).
• Lincoln in the Bardo: Goodreads Awards, Best Historical Fiction (2017). Waterstones, Book of the Year (2017). Audie Award, Best Multi-Voiced Performance Award (2018).
• A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: Goodreads Awards, Best Nonfiction (2021).
• Liberation Day: Stories: Los Angeles Times Book Prize, The Ray Bradbury Prize (2022).

George Saunders: Lists & Other Mentions

• Vigil was The Late Show Book Club February 2026 Pick.
• Lincoln in the Bardo was the Service95 Book Club October 2024 Pick.
• Lincoln in the Bardo has made several lists including:
  1. Wall Street Journal: #1 Hardcover Fiction Best Seller in 2017.
  2. The Sunday Times: 100 21st-Century Novels to Love Selection in 2019.
  3. New York Times: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century Selection in 2024.
  4. People Magazine: Best Books From the 2010s Selection in 2024.
  5. Los Angeles Times: The 30 Best Fiction Books of the Last 30 Years Selection in 2025.
  6. Paste Magazine: The 40 Best Novels of the 2010s Selection in 2020.
• Tenth of December has made several lists including:
  1. The Guardian: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century Section in 2019.
  2. New York Times: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century Selection in 2024.
  3. New York Public Library: 125 Books We Love for Adults Selection in 2020.
  4. Literary Hub: Quintessential American Fiction, According to the Rest of the World Selection in 2015.
  5. BBC: Radio Oxford 100 Books You Must Read Before You Die Selection in 2020.
• Pastoralia has made several lists including:
  1. New York Times: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century Selection in 2024.
  2. The Millions: The Best Fiction of the Millennium Selection in 2009.
  3. Entertainment Weekly: The New Classics - 100 Best Reads from 1983 to 2008 Selection in 2008.
• A Swim in a Pond in the Rain was a Time Magazine: 100 Must-Read Books Selection in 2021.
• Liberation Day: Stories was a Time Magazine: 100 Must-Read Books Selection in 2022 and a New York Times: 100 Notable Books Selection in 2022.
• CivilWarLand in Bad Decline was an Esquire: The 80 Books Every Man Should Read Selection in 2015.

Lincoln in the Bardo was listed at #8 on the Los Angeles Times "Best Fiction Books of the Last 30 Years" list, which was published in April 2025.

Related Authors

Fans of George Saunders also enjoy these authors:

1. Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale Series.
2. Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife Series.
3. Kurt Vonnegut Jr., author of: Slaughterhouse-Five.
4. Mark Twain, author of the Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn Series.
5. Percival Everett, author of: James.
6. Stephen Fry, author of the Mythos Series.
7. Steven Rowley, author of the Guncle Series.
8. Umberto Eco, author of: The Name of the Rose.
9. Alice Walker, author of the Color Purple Series.
10. Emma Straub, author of: This Time Tomorrow.

George Saunders: F.A.Q