The Transformative Power of Teaching Literature

Writer George Saunders on how famous short stories by writers like Chekhov, Tolstoy, Turgenev and Gogol are like miniature models of the world and how they can teach us to transcend our own limitations. (R)

For many years, author George Saunders taught a writing masterclass in upstate New York, in which he introduced students to the stories of the great Russian authors. 

Conversations with his students about writers like Tolstoy and Chekhov have given George some of the happiest moments of his life. 

George thinks the short stories written by these literary giants are like miniature models of the world—they show us what it's like to get lost in the snow on a winter's night, and how it feels to swim in a pond in the rain.

He says they can reveal so much to us about how we should live in this world and what we might want from the world and the humans in it.

This episode of Conversations discusses books, writing, literature, Russian literature, tertiary education, human connection, personal development, personal growth, Anna Karenina, epic books, origin stories, Steven Colbert's favourite author, the creative process, how to write, how to become a writer.