George Saunders is the winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.
The Library of Congress announced that Saunders is being given the award, which “honors an American literary writer whose body of work is distinguished not only for its mastery of the art but also for its originality of thought and imagination,” according to a news release.
Saunders is one of the country’s most acclaimed authors of short fiction. He made his literary debut in 1996 with the story collection CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, which was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. He followed that up four years later with Pastoralia.
His other books include the story collections In Persuasion Nation and Tenth of December; the Booker Prize–winning novel, Lincoln in the Bardo; and the nonfiction books The Braindead Megaphone and A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. His latest book, the story collection Liberation Day, was published last October.
“George Saunders has an uncanny ability to reveal the complexities of life and death in his writing; in doing so, he points to the truth of our shared human condition,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement. “I am pleased to recognize his literary achievements with this honor.”
The Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction was established in 2008. Past winners have included Isabel Allende, Toni Morrison, Colson Whitehead, and Jesmyn Ward.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
