Lydia Kang
{{Short description|American author}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Lydia Kang
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| birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, United States
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| occupation = Internal medicine physician and novelist
| language = English
| nationality = American
| education =
| period = 2009–present
| genre = {{unbulleted list|Science fiction|Nonfiction|Star Wars|Young adult|Historical fiction}}
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| website = {{URL|https://lydiakang.com/}}
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Lydia Kang is an American author of adult and young adult fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. She is also an internal medicine physician, and practices internal medicine in Omaha, Nebraska. Her most popular works include the 1899-era story Opium & Absinthe (2020), which entailed a story of a young woman from a rich New York family whose sister dies unexpectedly with bite wounds in her neck and sets out on a mission to find the killer, A Beautiful Poison (2017), which is a sequel of Opium & Absinthe, where a series of deaths during the Spanish flu pandemic becomes so spontaneous and close to the main character, Allene, that it prompts suspicion, and her Star Wars novels.
Life and education
Lydia Kang was born in Baltimore, Maryland.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Quackery |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?437389-2/dr-lydia-kang-discusses-quackery |access-date=November 16, 2017 |website=C-Span |publisher=C-Span}}{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Q&A With Lydia Kang |url=http://booksbywomen.org/qa-with-lydia-kang-by-mm-finck/ |website=Women Writers, Women's Books |date=October 5, 2017 |access-date=October 5, 2017}} She graduated from Roland Park Country School in 1989 and received her BA from Columbia University.{{cite web |title=Lydia Kang, MD |url=https://www.unmc.edu/intmed/divisions/gim/faculty/kang.html |website=UNMC Nebraska Medicine |publisher=College of Medicine}} She was a research assistant at the Columbia University Department of Biology during her undergraduate years and in graduate school.{{cite journal |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |last2=Marin |first2=Melanie |last3=Kelly |first3=Darcy |title=Androgen Biosynthesis and Secretion in Developing Xenopus laevis |journal= General and Comparative Endocrinology|year=1995 |volume=100 |issue=3 |pages=293–307 |doi=10.1006/gcen.1995.1160 |pmid=8775056 |doi-access=free }} She received her MD from New York University Grossman School of Medicine in 1998.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Dr. Lydia Kang, MD |url=https://health.usnews.com/doctors/lydia-kang-517821#experience |website=US News Health |publisher=US News}} After completing a primary care internal medicine residency at New York University's Langone Department of Medicine, she served as chief resident from 2001 to 2002{{cite web |last1=Brown|first1=Chuck|title=Dr. Kang Lands Fiction Deal with Penguin, credits Seven Doctors Project |url=https://www.unmc.edu/news.cfm?match=8846 |website=University of Nebraska Medical Center |publisher=UNMC Newsroom |date=10 January 2012|access-date=January 10, 2012}}{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Kang, Lydia |url=https://www.unmc.edu/intmed/divisions/gim/faculty/kang.html |website=UNMC |access-date=January 10, 2012}} before staying on as an attending physician at Bellevue Hospital.{{cite journal |last1=Su |first1=Yungpo Bernard |title=Residents' Work Hours |url=https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-141-9-200411020-00029 |journal=Annals of Internal Medicine |date=2004 |volume=141 |issue=9 |page=741 |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-141-9-200411020-00029 |pmid=15520442 |access-date=November 2, 2004}}{{cite web|title=Kang, Lydia |url=https://www.unmc.edu/intmed/divisions/gim/faculty/kang.html |website=UNMC |access-date=January 10, 2012}} In 2006, she moved to Omaha, Nebraska with her family and is an associate professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Career
In 2009, she joined the writing workshop The Seven Doctors Project at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. After writing two novels, she sold her third, a young adult science fiction novel, Control, to Penguin Random House in 2011{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=A Literary Prescription for Success |url=https://www.omahamagazine.com/2018/12/19/301561/a-literary-prescription-for-success |website=Omaha Magazine |access-date=December 19, 2018}} which subsequently released in 2013. The sequel, Catalyst, was published in 2015. In 2017, she released three more books, A Beautiful Poison, Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything (co-written with Nate Pedersen),{{cite web |title=Tales from the Annals of Medical Quackery |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/quack-medicine-fake-cures-charlatans-and-snake-oil-salesmen/ |website=CBS News |date=April 26, 2020 |access-date=April 26, 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title='Quackery' Chronicles How Our Love Of Miracle Cures Leads Us Astray |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/10/15/557479531/quackery-chronicles-how-our-love-of-miracle-cures-leads-us-astray |website=NPR |access-date=October 15, 2017}} and The November Girl.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=The November Girl |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lydia-kang/november-girl/ |website=Kirkus |access-date=November 7, 2017}} The November Girl won a 2018 Nebraska Best Book Award for Young Adult Literature.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Celebrate Nebraska's 2018 Book Award Winners at December 1st Celebration |url=http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases/1810CelebrateNebraskas2018BookAwardWinnersatDecember1stCelebration.aspx |website=Official Nebraska Government Website |publisher=Nebraska Library Commission |access-date=October 10, 2018}} Quackery was a Science Friday Best Science Book of 2017.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=The Best Science Books of 2017 |url=https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/the-best-science-books-of-2017/ |website=Science Friday |access-date=December 8, 2017}} Her young adult novel, Toxic, was published in 2018 and was a YARWA Athena Award winner for speculative fiction and a Junior Library Guild selection.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Toxic |url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781640634244J&name=Toxic |website=JLG |publisher=Junior Library Guild |access-date=February 1, 2019}} She also published three more adult historical fiction novels, including The Impossible Girl{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title='The Impossible Girl' review: A Marvelous Medical Mystery |url=https://www.hypable.com/the-impossible-girl-review-marvelous-medical-murder-mystery/ |website=Hypable |access-date=September 19, 2018}} in 2018, Opium and Absinthe in 2020,{{cite web |title=Opium and Absinthe |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781542017794 |website=Publishers Weekly |access-date=April 8, 2020}} and The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding in 2022.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding |url=https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/the-half-life-of-ruby-fielding/ |website=Historical Novel Society |access-date=May 1, 2022}}
Her second co-written nonfiction book, Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Disease, was published in 2021 and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781523513291 |website=Publishers Weekly |access-date=November 10, 2021}} It was the 2022 winner of the Nebraska Book Award in the NonFiction Popular History category.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases |url=https://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/winners/nebook.html |website=The Nebraska Center For The Book |access-date=September 22, 2022}}
Her third co-written nonfiction book, Pseudoscience: An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them was published in 2025 and began receiving support from Kang's loyal nonfiction readers. The book explores the history of popular scientific ideas and phenomena that have been disproved by science.{{Cite web |title=Pseudoscience: An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them (Hardcover) {{!}} The Bookworm Omaha |url=https://www.bookwormomaha.com/book/9781523524259 |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=www.bookwormomaha.com |language=en}}
Her writing is included in the young adult anthology, Color Outside the Lines: Stories about Love.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Review: 'Color Outside the Lines' anthology |url=https://thenerddaily.com/review-color-outside-the-lines-anthology/ |website=The Nerd Daily |date=August 4, 2019 |access-date=August 4, 2019}} Her short story, Right-Hand Man, is included in the 2020 anthology From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back, which describes the critical scene in The Empire Strikes Back in which 2-1B attached Luke Skywalker's prosthetic hand.{{cite web |title=About the Author |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/239558/lydia-kang/ |website=Penguin Random House }} In 2022, StarWars.com announced the addition of Kang to their Phase II multimedia project{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Star Wars: The High Republic Phase II Cover Art Revealed on Star Wars: The High Republic Show |url=https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-high-republic-show-202-reveals |website=StarWars.com |date=April 13, 2022 |access-date=April 13, 2022}} for the novel, Cataclysm.{{cite web |title=Review: Lydia Kang Delivers a High Republic Masterpiece in Star Wars: Cataclysm|url=https://www.starwarsnewsnet.com/2023/04/review-lydia-kang-delivers-a-high-republic-masterpiece-in-star-wars-cataclysm.html |website=Star Wars News Net }} In 2023, her short story "The Call of Coruscant" was released in Star Wars: The High Republic Tales of Light and Life, a Young Adult anthology.
She has helped other writers with medical accuracy in their fiction.{{cite web |last1=Croft|first1=Hallie|title=The Physician Who Pens YA Fiction Novels About Magic and Medicine |url=https://www.doximity.com/articles/c0a9aab4-7b85-4f87-9fcb-83313f4c165c |website=Op-Med |date=9 January 2018|access-date=January 9, 2018}} She has also published poetry and essays in JAMA,{{cite journal |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=The First Wake |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/183327?resultClick=1 |journal=JAMA |year=2009 |volume=301 |issue=5 |pages=467–468 |publisher=Jama Network |doi=10.1001/jama.2009.61 |pmid=19190306 |access-date=February 4, 2009}} The Canadian Medical Association Journal,{{cite journal |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Returns |journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal |year=2010 |volume=182 |issue=11 |pages=E538 |publisher=CMAJ Group |doi=10.1503/cmaj.100434 |s2cid=220296624 |doi-access=free |pmc=2917968 }}{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=A Lost Aunt |url=https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/183/12/1409.full.pdf |website=CMAJ Group |access-date=September 6, 2011}} Flatwater Free Press,{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=A Nebraska Doctor Was Writing A History of Nightmare Pandemics. Then She Lived One. |url=https://flatwaterfreepress.org/a-nebraska-doctor-was-writing-a-history-of-nightmare-pandemics-then-she-lived-one/ |website=Flatwater Free Press |date=September 24, 2021 |access-date=September 24, 2021}} Journal of General Internal Medicine,{{cite journal |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=An Infinite Fraction |journal=Journal of General Internal Medicine |year=2010 |volume=25 |issue=7 |page=754 |doi=10.1007/s11606-010-1343-8 |pmid=20383752 |pmc=2881971 }} The Annals of Internal Medicine,{{cite journal |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=The Veil |url=https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-145-12-200612190-00012 |journal=Annals of Internal Medicine |year=2006 |volume=145 |issue=12 |page=932 |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-145-12-200612190-00012 |pmid=17179062 |s2cid=42428639 |access-date=December 19, 2006}} Great Weather for Media,{{cite web |title=The Understanding Between Foxes and Light |url=https://www.greatweatherformedia.com/the-understanding-between-foxes-and-light |website=Great Weather for Media |access-date=August 1, 2013}}{{cite web |title=Q&A with Lydia Kang |url=http://booksbywomen.org/qa-with-lydia-kang-by-mm-finck/ |website=Women Writers, Women's Books |date=October 5, 2017 |access-date=October 5, 2017}} and the Linden Review.{{cite web |last1=Kang |first1=Lydia |title=Lydia Kang, Check Your Head |url=https://www.lindenreview.com/kang-check-your-head |website=The Linden Review }}
Works
;Young Adult Novels
- Control (Dial Books, Penguin Random House, 2013)
- Catalyst (Kathy Dawson Books, Penguin Random House, 2013)
- The November Girl (Entangled Publishing, 2017)
- Toxic (Entangled Publishing, 2018)
- Star Wars: The High Republic - Tales of Light and Life (Disney Lucasfilm Press, 2023)
;Short Stories
- Yuna and the Wall in Color Outside the Lines: Stories about Love (Soho Press, 2019)
- The Right-Hand Man in Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back (Random House Worlds, 2020)
;Adult Novels
- A Beautiful Poison (Lake Union Publishing, 2017)
- The Impossible Girl (Lake Union Publishing, 2018)
- Opium and Absinthe: A Novel (Lake Union Publishing, 2020)
- The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding (Lake Union Publishing, 2022)
- Star Wars: Cataclysm (Del Rey Books, 2023)
;Adult Nonfiction
- Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything (Workman Publishing, 2017)
- Patient Zero (Workman Publishing, 2022)
- Pseudoscience: An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them (Workman Publishing, 2025)
References
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