A new opera based on a book by College of Arts and Sciences professor of English, George Saunders G'88, will take the stage at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

An article on Syracuse.com spotlighted the opera, which will be based on Saunders' bestselling Lincoln in the Bardo. The opera is set to premiere during the Met's 2026-2027 season.

Lincoln in the Bardo was Saunders’ first novel and debuted at number one on The New York Times Bestseller List. The book is Saunders’ conception of a visit by President Abraham Lincoln to the cemetery where his deceased 11-year-old son, Willie, is buried. The experimental novel explores Abraham Lincoln’s grief for the loss of his son alongside a cast of narrating ghosts who are in the “bardo” - a limbo state between death and the afterlife.

In addition to Saunders' opera adaptation, fellow creative writing professor Dana Spiotta's Eat the Document (2006) was the inspiration for an opera which premiered in New York City in January 2025.