“It’s almost like we’re two or three different countries and the phone lines have gone down. How can we get the lines back up? Not surprisingly, my kind of corny answer is: art. Actually, art is the way. . . . When you’re in the presence of a great work of art, you’re simply reminded of certain higher registers that exist within us. We’re reminded that we possess nuance, curiosity, patience, kindness.”
—George Saunders, at Narrative Night 2016
Photography by Amy Anderson.
Friends gathered over food, wine, and stories at Narrative Night 2016 to celebrate thirteen years of Narrative. The magazine’s cofounders, Carol Edgarian and Tom Jenks, kicked things off with a toast to lovers of literature—in the room and around the globe. Poet and 2015 Narrative Prize winner Ocean Vuong shared how vital support like the Narrative Prize has been for him as a first-generation American writer. George Saunders, the Narrative Storyteller Award honoree, made a case for great art as the glue to repair our increasingly fractured society and gave us a peek into his writing process. And celebrated cartoonist Liza Donnelly, fresh off a live-drawing gig at the Oscars, captured the entire party in sketches on her iPad and shared them with the world via Twitter. The divine food and drink, courtesy of Traci Des Jardins and her staff at Jardinière, helped create the kind of inspirational evening that makes Narrative Night our night of the year.
