George Saunders - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Saunders was born in Amarillo, Texas, and grew up on the south side of Chicago. He is a graduate of Oak Forest High School in Oak Forest, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago. In 1981 Saunders received a B.S. in geophysical engineering from Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. Speaking of his scientific background, Saunders said "...any claim I might make to originality in my fiction is really just the result of this odd background: basically, just me working inefficiently, with flawed tools, in a mode I don't have sufficient background to really understand. Like if you put a welder to designing dresses." In 1988, he obtained an M.A. in creative writing from Syracuse University.

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