{"id":27019,"date":"2013-10-16T04:50:17","date_gmt":"2013-10-16T09:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utnews.utoledo.edu\/?p=27019"},"modified":"2013-10-15T13:49:38","modified_gmt":"2013-10-15T18:49:38","slug":"best-selling-author-to-speak-at-summers-memorial-lecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/10_16_2013\/best-selling-author-to-speak-at-summers-memorial-lecture","title":{"rendered":"Best-selling author to speak at Summers Memorial Lecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

A best-selling author known for his dark and funny short stories, who also happens to be one of Time\u2019s 100 Most Influential People in the World, will speak Monday, Oct. 21, at The University of Toledo.<\/p>\n

\"Saunders\"<\/a>

Saunders<\/p><\/div>George Saunders, whose most recent collection of short stories Tenth of December<\/em> 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.<\/P><\/p>\n

Saunders, who was a field geophysicist, didn\u2019t know writing was a possible livelihood until he discovered master of fine arts programs. He applied to the MFA program at Syracuse, got in, and began his new life as a writer. He still teaches there.<\/p>\n

He is the author of the best-selling CivilWarLand in Bad Decline<\/em> and Pastoralia,<\/em> as well as numerous short stories in The New Yorker and travel pieces in GQ.<\/p>\n

His book of essays, The Braindead Megaphone, landed him spots on \u201cThe Charlie Rose Show,\u201d \u201cLate Night With David Letterman\u201d and \u201cThe Colbert Report.\u201d This year, he was named one of Time magazine\u2019s 100 Most Influential People in the World. He also has been recognized as a MacArther Genius Grant Fellow, which supports \u201cextraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a widely recognized writer,\u201d said Dr. Tim Geiger, professor of English. \u201cI think he\u2019s going to be very entertaining, and I think he\u2019s going to say some things to make people think about our contemporary society and where we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saunders\u2019 work has been studied in the UT graduate seminar Creative Writing and 20th Century American Fiction taught by Dr. Ben Stroud, assistant professor of English. Stroud served on the committee that extended the invitation to speak on campus to benefit not only the graduate students that take the course, but the community as well. Geiger and Jane Bradley, professor of English, also served on the committee that planned the lecture.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a very compassionate writer,\u201d Geiger said. \u201cA lot of the themes and topics he addresses are about the human condition and what we\u2019re doing here on this planet. The way he approaches that and the way he addresses it are very engaging to people.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The lecture will be followed by a reception and a book signing in Libbey Hall, with some of Saunders\u2019 books for sale courtesy of the Barnes & Noble University Bookstore.<\/p>\n

For more information on the free, public event, call the Department of English Language and Literature at 419.530.2318.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George Saunders, a best-selling author known for his humor, will deliver the 24th annual Richard M. Summers Memorial Lecture Monday, Oct. 21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":538,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7,37],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/538"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}