‘Game of Thrones’ writer George R. R. Martin gifts NU $5 million to establish professorship, writing workshop
Daily file photo by Zack Laurence
George R.R. Martin, who accepted a 2015 Medill Hall of Achievement award for his work with “A Song of Ice and Fire,” is giving back to his alma mater.
October 31, 2022
“A Song of Ice and Fire” novelist and “Game of Thrones” co-executive producer George R.R. Martin (Medill ’70, ’71) has gifted $5 million to Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, the University announced Monday.
“George R.R. Martin is a prolific and iconic author with an international audience,” University President Michael Schill said in a news release. “We are so grateful for his generosity to his alma mater, which will inspire and equip the next generation of storytellers at Northwestern.”
The gift will support two initiatives to support aspiring authors at NU.
The George R.R. Martin Summer Intensive Writing Workshop will receive $3 million. The program, launching in 2024, will provide instruction for six to eight aspiring fiction writers, screenwriters and playwrights per summer.
Another $2 million of the donation will create the George R.R. Martin Chair in Storytelling, an endowed professorship in Medill. The professor will lead the summer intensive workshop and teach courses like narrative nonfiction to NU students.
“The (programs) will enable us to recruit, retain and host recognized authors and storytellers for the benefit of Northwestern students and writers from around the country,” Medill Dean Charles Whitaker said in the release. “These initiatives will help aspiring writers across myriad literary genres to make their mark on the world, as George has done.”
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Twitter: @nicolejmarkus
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