My short interview with George Saunders for Word Factory on ‘A Swim in a Pond in the Rain’.
My short interview with George Saunders for Word Factory
George Saunders
My short interview with Booker Prize-winner George Saunders for Word Factory
My short interview with George Saunders for Word Factory on ‘A Swim in a Pond in the Rain’.
Read My 2 George Saunders Interviews
Congratulations to George Saunders on winning the Man Booker Prize for his debut novel Lincoln in the Bardo.
I’ve been lucky enough to have interviewed George twice and was especially honoured to share the stage with him this year at the BBC 3 Free Thinking Festival.
My first interview with him was on the day he won The Folio Prize and the second time was recently on a promotional tour of the UK and Ireland for the release of his award-winning novel.
I hope you enjoy them.
Credit: Paul McVeigh – taken in London before his Folio Prize win
Interview with Booker Shortlisted George Saunders
George Saunders has been shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker Prize. I was lucky enough to interview George a couple of years ago. It was an amazing experience and a real ‘moment’ in my writing career.
George Saunders (c) Paul McVeigh
Recently I got to sit on a panel with for BBC Radio 3 thanks to New Writing North & Word Factory. We talked about the short story and read some of our work.
George was up for another interview that day which we did thanks to Bloomsbury Books. You can read it over at The Irish Times where George talks about his debut novel, writing, Trump and his wife’s upcoming novel. I hope you enjoy it.
My George Saunders Interview
I was lucky enough to interview George Saunders a couple of years ago. It was an amazing experience and a real ‘moment’ in my writing career.
George Saunders (c) Paul McVeigh
Recently I got to sit on a panel with for BBC Radio 3 thanks to New Writing North & Word Factory. We talked about the short story and read some of our work.
George was up for another chat and interview that day which we did thanks to Bloomsbury Books. You can read it over at The Irish Times where George talks about his debut novel, writing, Trump and his wife’s upcoming novel. I hope you enjoy it.
George Saunders & me on BBC Radio 3
How Short is a Short Story?
This event was recorded at BBC 3’s Free Thinking Festival last weekend. It is a highlight of my career to share a stage with one of my writing heroes – George Saunders. You can listen to it here for the next 30 days. I also got to interview George after the event so look out for that.
As part of the festival Jenn Ashworth, Kirsty Logan and myself write some (very) short stories and you can listen to them here. The stories were commissioned by New Writing North and Word Factory.
Here’s what BBC3 said:
George Saunders, Kirsty Logan, Jenn Asworth and Paul McVeigh discuss writing fiction short and long with presenter Matthew Sweet.
Acclaimed American short story writer George Saunders talks about travelling in time to explore Abraham Lincoln’s life during the American Civil War when the President’s beloved young son died. These historical events have inspired Saunder’s first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, whilst his short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, McSweeeney’s and GQ.
He compares notes on the art of the short story with Paul McVeigh, Jenn Ashworth and Kirsty Logan, who’ve been commissioned by New Writing North and the Word Factory to write Flash Fiction on this year’s Free Thinking Festival theme of The Speed of Life.
Kirsty Logan is the author of books including The Gracekeepers and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales and a range of short stories.
Jenn Ashworth’s books include Fell, The Friday Gospels, A Kind of Intimacy and Cold Light and a selection of short stories.
Paul McVeigh has won prizes including the Polari prize for his debut novel The Good Son. Born in Belfast he is co-founder of the London Short Story Festival, writes a blog and has represented the UK at events in Mexico and Turkey.
Recorded in front of an audience as part of Radio 3’s Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead.
The stories commissioned for the Festival are available to listen to as an Arts and Ideas podcast available for 30 days.
My New Story on BBC Radio 3 – Hurry!
The Speed of Life – Short Stories: Jenn Ashworth, Paul McVeigh & Kirsty Logan
Stories on the theme of this year’s Free Thinking Festival, commissioned by New Writing North and Word Factory.
Last weekend I travelled to Gateshead to record a short story for BBC Radio 3 along with Jenn Ashworth and Kirsty Logan. You can listen to or download these 3 short stories (total 25mins) for the next 25 days only on BBC IPlayer here.
Later tonight you can listen to the BBC 3 event we recorded with George Saunders ‘How Short is a Short Story?’ too.
I hope you enjoy.
Presenter Matthew Sweet, Jenn Ashworth, George Saunders, Kirsty Logan & Me
Last Free Tickets Released Feb 17 for George Saunders, Jenn Ashworth, Kirsty Logan & me
Last Free Tickets Released Tomorrow Feb 17 for George Saunders, Jenn Ashworth, Kirsty Logan & me talking to Matthew Sweet at BBC 3 Free Thinking Festival. Here’s the information from the website…
BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking Festival: How Short Is A Short Story? Sat 18 Mar. 10.15-11.15am
With US author George Saunders, Jenn Ashworth, Paul McVeigh and Kirsty Logan
Acclaimed American short story writer George Saunders talks to Radio 3 presenter Matthew Sweet about travelling in time to explore Abraham Lincoln’s life during the American Civil War when the President’s beloved young son died. These historical events have inspired Saunder’s first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, whilst his short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, McSweeney’s and GQ.
He compares notes on the art of fiction long and short with Paul McVeigh, Jenn Ashworth and Kirsty Logan, who’ve been commissioned by New Writing North and the WordFactory to write Flash Fiction on the Festival theme of The Speed of Life.
Kirsty Logan is the author of books including The Gracekeepers and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales and a range of short stories.
Jenn Ashworth’s books include Fell, The Friday Gospels, A Kind of Intimacy and Cold Light and a selection of short stories.
Paul McVeigh has won prizes including the Polari prize for his debut novel The Good Son. Born in Belfast he is co-founder of the London Short Story Festival, writes a blog and has represented the UK at events in Mexico and Turkey.
You can hear the specially commissioned stories for the Festival on the free Radio 3 headphones available to borrow in Sage foyer.
Matthew Sweet is author of Inventing the Victorians, Shepperton Babylon and The West End Front. He is a columnist for Art Quarterly and Newsweek and presents Free Thinking and Sound of Cinema on BBC Radio 3 and The Philosopher’s Arms on BBC Radio 4. He was series consultant on the Showtime drama Penny Dreadful and played a moth from the planet Vortis in An Adventure in Space and Time on BBC2.
In association with New Writing North and the WordFactory.
For your information…
- A second batch of tickets will be released at 12noon on Friday 17 February.
- A restricted number of tickets will be available on the day on a first come first served basis.
- Please take your seats 10 minutes prior to the event start time otherwise you may lose your place.
New George Saunders Short Story
Mother’s Day by George Saunders
A new short story by George Saunders is a big deal! Click the title above and read for free in The New Yorker.
You can read my interview with George Saunders here.
George Saunders on Story & My Interview
George Saunders Explains How to Tell a Good Story. Click to hear the short story master sharing his unique insights into creating a great story for The Atlantic. It’s fantastic. And if you’ve never read his work I urge to you give it a go.
George Saunders (c) Paul McVeigh
I was lucky enough to interview George, in London, on the day he won The Folio Prize. You can read that interview here – he is rather fantastic.
A little snippet…
P: You described your job in Sumatra as – you drilled deep down then put in dynamite and exploded it. Isn’t that a little like the writing process?
G: Well it is actually! I never thought… You’re kind of looking to see where the energy goes, that’s the same thing – you put some energy in and see how it sorts itself out.
The Good Son 