Chicago Tribune Profiles Acclaimed Alum David Sedaris
Renowned essayist and School of the Art Institute of Chicago alum David Sedaris (BFA 1987) is featured in a Chicago Tribune profile in honor of the release of his latest essay collection, The Land and Its People. The Tribune traces Sedaris's path from his early years in Chicago to his current tour, touching on his SAIC years, his process of rewriting stories live on stage, and his complicated relationship with New Yorker fact-checkers. It was at SAIC, in a writing class with the late professor Lynn Koons, that Sedaris first read his own work to a live audience and got a laugh. Sedaris also discusses how after graduating, SAIC Professor Jim McManus’s words of encouragement guided Sedaris for years when he was struggling creatively and financially early in his career in Chicago.
“Making no compromise with the public taste.” This was the motto of The Little Review, a groundbreaking avant-garde magazine helmed by alum Jane Heap (SAIC 1902–1905).
