"Your main job as a writer is to grab by the lapels and compel. I always tell students drop the facade, relax into the idea that the essential you is there and you have to let it come in."
Nana Adjei-Brenyah reviews George Saunders' presentation at UAlbany in the Times Union:
http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/Author-Saunders-entertains-4300887.php