In its first issue of 2013, New York Times Magazine called George Saunders' Tenth of December "the best book you'll read this year." A MacArthur "genius" grant recipient, Saunders will headline the tenth annual CityLit Festival at Pratt Library on Saturday, April 13, in Baltimore.

For a little insight to Saunders, check out this recent blog post on "Life-Changing Art" by Baltimore magazine arts and culture editor John Lewis at All the Pieces Matter.

The New York Times Magazine piece can be read here.

Saunders is the author of three collections of short stories: the bestselling Pastoralia, set against a warped, hilarious, and terrifyingly recognizable American landscape; CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, a Finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, and In Persuasion Nation, one of three finalists for the 2006 STORY Prize for best short story collection of the year. In 2006, Saunders received a “genius grant” from the MacArthur Foundation, which described him as a “highly imaginative author [who] continues to influence a generation of young writers and brings to contemporary American fiction a sense of humor, pathos, and literary style all his own.”

Check back here for a complete festival schedule.

CityLit Festival is presented by CityLit Project and Enoch Pratt Free Library, with support from the Maryland State Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.