UA’s Bankhead Visiting Writers Series Welcomes George Saunders and Mary Gaitskill

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – George Saunders and Mary Gaitskill will read selections from their latest works at 7:30 p.m. on March 4, in 205 Smith Hall on the campus of The University of Alabama as part of the Bankhead Visiting Writers Series.

Saunders had published two collections of stories, “Pastoralia” and “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline,” which was a finalist for the 1996 PEN/Hemingway Award and was a New York Times Notable Book. He also has published a children’s story, “The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip.”

His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, Story, and many other publications. His stories have received two National Magazine Awards and have appeared three times in the O’Henry Awards collections. He teaches in the Creative Writing Program at Syracuse University.

Gaitskill is the author of the short story collections “Bad Behavior” and “Because They Wanted To” and a novel, “Two Girls, Fat and Thin.” The recent film, Secretary, is an adaptation of a story from her collection “Bad Behavior.” Her fiction and journalism have appeared in Harper’s, The New Yorker, Mirabella and Vogue. She lives in New York.

The Bankhead Visiting Writers Series is made possible by an endowment from the Bankhead Foundation, The University of Alabama’s Program in Creative Writing, the Department of English and the College of Arts and Sciences. For more information, please contact UA’s creative writing program at 205/348-0766 or visit www.bama.ua.edu/~writing.