Lincoln in the Bardo is the long-awaited genre-busting first novel from Syracuse University professor George Saunders, a multi-faceted writer with a back catalogue of acclaimed short stories and widely considered to be one of the best contemporary writers working today. At the dawn of the Civil War Abraham Lincoln is grieving the death of his 11-year-old son Willie, who is trapped in a transitional realm – in Tibetan culture the “bardo”. In New Zealand for the first time, Saunders talks with Paula Morris about his work and life, and some of its weirder moments.