An Arlington Reads Signature Author Event. 

Join us for a conversation between author George Saunders and Library Director Diane Kresh about Saunders's book "A Swim in a Pond in the Rain," and his Freedom Reads introduction to "Dubliners."

The conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A and a book signing.

RSVP for an event reminder. Attendance is first-come, first-served until seating capacity is reached.

The event will also be livestreamed and available as a recording for 10 days on Arlington County's Youtube channel; RSVP to receive the online link. 

For more information, contact LibraryPrograms@arlingtonva.us

For our current policies on masking, please see our Library Operations Update.

Date:
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Time:
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location:
Barbara M. Donnellan Auditorium
Library:
Central Library
Audience:
Events for Adults
Categories:
Author Talk
Calendar:
Arlington Public Library
Registration has closed.

About the book

For the last twenty years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In "A Swim in a Pond in the Rain," he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. 

About the author

George Saunders is the author of a novel, four collections of short stories, a novella, and a book of essays. His most recent collection, Liberation Day, is a masterful collection that explores ideas of power, ethics, and justice, and cuts to the very heart of what it means to live in community with our fellow humans. Saunders’ long-awaited novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, was published in 2017 and helped him earn the Man Booker Prize. Saunders’s collection, Tenth of December, was the winner of the 2014 Story Prize and the 2014 Folio Prize. The recipient of a 2006 MacArthur Foundation Genius grant, his work appears regularly in The New Yorker, GQ, and Harpers Magazine, and has appeared in the O’Henry, Best American Short Story, Best Non-Required Reading, and Best American Travel Writing anthologies. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME Magazine in 2013.

About Our Events

Accommodations in the Library

Arlington County provides accommodations to individuals with disabilities upon request. Please contact ​us at least five (5) business days in advance.

  • Phone: 703-228-5993
  • Email: Jberg@arlingtonva.us