Lincoln in the Bardo
Award History
| Award | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|
| National Book Foundation Distinguished Contribution to American Letters | 2025 | Winner |
About This Book
On a single night in February 1862, Abraham Lincoln visits a cemetery in Washington, D.C., to mourn his recently buried son Willie. In the bardo—the Tibetan Buddhist transitional state between life and what comes next—Willie's spirit is surrounded by dozens of ghosts, each trapped by their attachment to earthly life. A formally revolutionary novel narrated by over one hundred voices. Winner of the Booker Prize.
About the Author
George Saunders is an American short story writer, novelist, and essayist widely regarded as the most gifted and distinctive American short fiction writer of his generation. Born in Amarillo, Texas, in 1958, he studied geotechnical engineering at the Colorado School of Mines and worked as a geophysical engineer before receiving an MFA in creative writing from Syracuse University, where he later became a professor of creative writing. Saunders is best known for his short story collections CivilWarLand in Bad Decline (1996), Pastoralia (2000), In Persuasion Nation (2006), and Tenth of December (2013), which won the Story Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Folio Prize. Read more →
