One of my all time favourite conversations: Story telling Master George Saunders.

As recalled by Hattie Crisell

Talking To George Saunders for London Literature Festival 2O22

So many extraordinary people turned up to this sold out London Literature Festival talk at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall last October. As if any further testament were needed to the legendary status of George Saunders. It was only slightly daunting to find the audience filled with everyone from various former Booker Prize Winners to Comedians David Baddiel and Richard Adebayo. It’s no surprise that this true Master of Storytelling would draw such a crowd.

We were there to discuss Liberation Day his Collection of Short Stories. It was a mesmerising event. Spellbound is an overused word but that is exactly how I would describe the feeling in that hall. For the whole hour, we were all entranced.

Sadly this talk was not recorded but very luckily amongst the audience was Journalist, host of In Writing Podcast:

Hattie Crisell

.

I am so indebted to her for preserving this conversation.

This was my second event with George and I intend to write about our Conversation in which we discussed his 2O2O Book: A Swim in The Pond In the Rain: In which four Russians give a masterclass on Writing, Reading and Life

For now I HIGHLY recommend taking yourselves over here - just a substack skip away, where you will find Hattie’s article.