Karin Ruhlandt, dean of Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, needed to take a breath as she introduced George Saunders to kick off the University Lectures series.

But Saunders’ introduction couldn’t be kept under a minute: He has been a professor of English at SU since 1997, and he’s won numerous awards for his writing, including the Man Booker Prize in 2017 for his novel, “Lincoln in the Bardo.” In 2013, Time magazine named him one of the world’s most influential people. Ruhlandt went on to list Saunders’ other accolades.

“Why don’t we just call it a night,” Saunders said. “That was perfect.”

Saunders gave more than 200 people at Hendricks Chapel on Thursday night a look inside his creative process, his path to SU and what his future prospects may hold. The writer gave an hour-long speech to start off the lecture series, now in its 18th season.

Beyond writing, Saunders explained one thing he’s learned from his profession is kindness. He said he dove into the Republican heartland to interview supporters of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump for an article in The New Yorker. Saunders, who said he’s a liberal, developed a sense of understanding for opposing views, he said. After the interviews, he wanted to maintain his core values of compassion and empathy.

“Keep your heart open and try to love the enemy,” he told the audience. “It’s more efficient than being angry and combative. You tend to get your best result by being equally compassionate for both the victims and the perpetrators.”

Since then, Saunders said he has found himself falling more in love with his teaching. He said the art energizes him and gives him the belief that there’s a steady crop of talented students every year, specifically for SU’s creative writing program. He said about 650 people applied for six spots last year.

Saunders still makes time to read and write. He reads thousands of hours of books and short stories, and he said writing is what makes him feel most alive. The craft drove him away from engineering, which he studied in college.

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Before his first book was published in 1996, Saunders was struggling to make ends meet, he said. He was 38, and once he published his first book, his career started to take off. His nonfiction writing has appeared in The New Yorker and GQ.

He said his life has been fairly smooth during the past few years. He gets to teach and write in a place he loves, he said. He turns 60 in December. Despite his success, he admitted that he has a self-esteem issue that pushes him to work harder.

“When things go well for you, you can assume all is good in the world,” he said. “Don’t be fooled by your own experience.”

After his lecture, Saunders signed books for more than half an hour. Some people approached him for an autograph. Others just wanted to say hello.

“What brings you to SU?” Saunders asked as he signed a copy of his book “Tenth of December.”

“What are you studying? Are you liking Syracuse?”

“All the best with your future,” he told another student, who smiled as Saunders locked eyes with her.

“Thank you for 20 beautiful years,” Saunders said at the end of his speech. “I really appreciate this place.”

Published on October 19, 2018 at 12:18 am

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21