This week I speak to George Saunders: author of 11 books including the 2017 Man Booker Prize winner Lincoln in the Bardo; regular contributor of short fiction to The New Yorker for almost 30 years; and creative writing teacher at Syracuse University. George's new book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, uses classic Russian short stories to analyse good writing and storytelling. His special skill, other than writing, is in demystifying the subject and providing comforting, encouraging, practical advice to students, readers, podcast listeners... and me.

This episode of In Writing is sponsored by Curtis Brown Creative. Listen for a discount code to get £20 off one of their four, six, or ten-week online writing courses. Visit curtisbrowncreative.co.uk to find out more.

Buy George's new book and other titles by guests of this podcast by visiting https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/in-writing – when you buy from my shop, 10% of your money supports the making of the podcast, and 10% goes to independent bookshops.