R. O. Kwon

{{Infobox writer

| name = R. O. Kwon

| image = R. O. Kwon at AWP 2025 06 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Kwon at AWP 2025

| birth_name = Okyong Kwon

| birth_place = Seoul, South Korea

| education = {{ubl|Yale University|

Brooklyn College (MFA)}}

| years_active = 2017–present

| website = {{URL|https://ro-kwon.com/}}

}}

{{Infobox Korean name

| color = khaki

| title = Korean name

| hangul = 권오경{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/rokwon?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor |title=R. O. Kwon in Twitter |newspaper= |author= }}

| rr = Gwon Ogyeong

| mr = Kwŏn Okyŏng

}}

R. O. Kwon, also known as Reese Okyong Kwon, is a South Korean and American author. In 2018, she published her nationally bestselling{{Cite web|url=https://authorlink.com/indie-bestseller-list/the-indie-bestseller-list-3-2018-4/|title=The Indie Bestseller List|website=Authorlink|language=en-US|date=August 7, 2018|access-date=2018-12-06}} debut novel The Incendiaries with Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Her nationally bestselling second novel, Exhibit, was published in 2024 with Riverhead Books.{{Cite magazine |last=Weir |first=Keziah |date=2024-05-09 |title=R.O. Kwon Is Writing Into Desire |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/ro-kwon-is-writing-into-desire |access-date=2024-05-19 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}

Early life

Kwon was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to Los Angeles, California, with her family when she was three years old.{{cite web|url=https://cupofjo.com/2018/08/crazy-rich-asians-r-o-kwon-incendiaries/|title=The Mistake I Made at 'Crazy Rich Asians'|last1=Kwon|first1=R.O.|website=A Cup Of Jo|date=23 August 2018|access-date=12 December 2018}} She was raised in a Christian household but at the age of 17 experienced a crisis of faith and stopped believing in God.

She attended Yale University.{{cite web |last1=Han |first1=Jimin |author-link=Jimin Han |date=6 June 2018 |title=Interview with R.O. Kwon, Author of The Incendiaries |url=https://hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2018/06/interview-ro-kwon-author-incendiaries |access-date=10 November 2018}} She has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Brooklyn College.{{Cite web|url=https://therumpus.net/2018/07/the-rumpus-interview-with-ro-kwon/|title=We're All Unreliable Narrators: Talking with R.O. Kwon|last=Thomas|first=Monet Patrice|date=18 July 2018|website=The Rumpus|access-date=27 July 2019}}

Career

Kwon's work has appeared in publications including The New York Times,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/23/opinion/sunday/calling-asian-women-adorable.html|title=Opinion {{!}} Stop Calling Asian Women Adorable|last=Kwon|first=R. O.|date=2019-03-23|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-04-06|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} The Guardian,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/29/blind-spot-teju-cole-review|title=Blind Spot by Teju Cole review – a writer's photographs|last=Kwon|first=R. O.|date=2017-06-29|work=The Guardian|access-date=2018-12-06|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} The Paris Review,{{Cite web|url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/01/07/on-being-a-woman-in-america-while-trying-to-avoid-being-assaulted/|title=On Being a Woman in America While Trying to Avoid Being Assaulted|last=Kwon|first=R. O.|date=2019-01-07|website=The Paris Review|language=en|access-date=2019-03-16}} BuzzFeed,{{Cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rokwon/korean-american-pyeongchang-olympics|title=I'm Korean American, And I Can't Watch The Pyeongchang Olympics|last=Kwon|first=R.O.|website=BuzzFeed News|language=en|date=February 16, 2018|access-date=2018-12-06}} Vice,{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/xwggvd/the-clown-from-it-reminded-me-of-god-and-i-loved-him|title=The Clown from 'IT' Reminded Me of God, and I Loved Him|last=Kwon|first=R. O.|date=2017-09-25|website=Vice|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-06}} New York Magazine's The Cut,{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/why-i-always-wear-black-eyeshadow.html|title=Why I Don't Leave the House Without Putting on Black Eye Shadow|last=Kwon|first=R. O.|date=6 April 2018|website=The Cut}} and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts,{{Cite web|url=https://www.arts.gov/nea-literature-fellowships/r-o-kwon|title=R. O. Kwon|date=2018-05-30|website=NEA|language=en|access-date=2018-12-06}} Yaddo,{{Cite web|url=https://www.yaddo.org/artists/artist-guests/writers/|title=Writers|date=2016-09-11|website=Yaddo|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-06}} and MacDowell.{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/newsbrief/index.html?record=1501|title=2017 MacDowell Fellows Announced|website=PublishersWeekly.com|language=en|date=September 14, 2017|access-date=2018-12-06}}

In 2018, Kwon published her debut novel, The Incendiaries, about a woman who becomes involved with a cult of extremist Christians. The novel was inspired by Kwon's own loss of faith in God, and took 10 years to finish.{{cite web |last1=Fassler |first1=Joe |title=A Writer's Fixation on Sound |website=The Atlantic |date=24 July 2018 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/07/a-writers-fixation-on-sound/565904/ |access-date=16 October 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Beckley |first1=Sarah |title=Novelist R.O. Kwon on Losing Her Religion |date=31 July 2018 |url=https://www.elle.com/culture/books/a22602946/ro-kwon-the-incendiaries-interview/|website=elle.com|access-date=16 October 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/rokwon-the-incendiaries/|title=Grief That Drives: R.O. Kwon by Colin Winnette - BOMB Magazine|last=Winnette|first=Colin|website=bombmagazine.org|date=July 24, 2018|access-date=2018-12-06}} The Incendiaries was named a best book of the year by more than 40 publications and organizations,{{Cite web|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/549116/the-incendiaries-by-r-o-kwon/9780735213890|title=The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://indianareview.org/2019/03/at-the-center-interview-with-r-o-kwon/|title="At the Center": Interview with R.O. Kwon|date=2019-03-02|website=Indiana Review|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-16}} including The Today Show, NPR, BuzzFeed, The Atlantic, PBS Books, Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, and elsewhere, and is being translated into seven languages.{{Cite web|url=https://ro-kwon.com/foreign-editions|title=Foreign Editions|website=R.O. Kwon|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-27}} Before the book's release, Kwon was featured as one of "4 writers to watch" by The New York Times.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/books/4-writers-to-watch-this-summer.html|title=4 Writers to Watch This Summer|last=de León|first=Concepción|date=2018-06-09|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-12-06|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} The Incendiaries is an American Booksellers Association Indie Next #1 Great Read{{Cite web|url=https://www.bookweb.org/news/qa-ro-kwon-author-augusts-1-indie-next-list-pick-104817|title=A Q&A With R.O. Kwon, Author of August's #1 Indie Next List Pick|last=Button|first=Liz|date=2018-07-16|website=the American Booksellers Association|access-date=2018-12-06}} and an American Booksellers Association Indies Introduce Pick.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bookweb.org/indies-introduce-summer-fall-2018|title=Indies Introduce Summer Fall 2018|website=the American Booksellers Association|access-date=2018-12-29}} The novel received the Housatonic Book Prize,{{Cite web|url=https://housatonicbookawards.wordpress.com/|title=Housatonic Book Awards|website=Housatonic Book Awards|language=en|access-date=2020-01-27}} and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award for Best First Book,{{Cite web|url=http://www.bookcritics.org/blog/archive/announcing-the-finalists-for-the-john-leonard-award-for-best-first-book|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181212171821/http://www.bookcritics.org/blog/archive/announcing-the-finalists-for-the-john-leonard-award-for-best-first-book|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 12, 2018|title=National Book Critics Circle: Announcing the Finalists for the John Leonard Award for Best First Book - Critical Mass Blog|website=www.bookcritics.org|access-date=2018-12-29}} the Los Angeles Times First Book Prize,{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-la-times-book-prize-finalists-20190220-story.html|title=L.A. Times Book Prize finalists include Michelle Obama and Susan Orlean; Terry Tempest Williams receives lifetime achievement award|last=Schaub|first=Michael|website=Los Angeles Times|date=20 February 2019 |access-date=2019-03-16}} and the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Fiction Prize.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nciba.com/book-awards.html|title=Book Awards|website=Northern California Independent Booksellers Association|language=en|access-date=2019-03-16|archive-date=2019-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191111081617/https://www.nciba.com/book-awards.html|url-status=usurped}} In addition, the book has been nominated for the American Library Association Carnegie Medal{{Cite web|url=http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/carnegieadult/longlists|title=Andrew Carnegie Medals Longlist {{!}} Awards & Grants|website=www.ala.org|access-date=2018-12-29}} and Aspen Prize.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2018/11/19/669188894/exclusive-friday-black-there-there-and-more-longlisted-for-aspen-words-prize|title=Exclusive: 'Friday Black,' 'There There' And More Longlisted For Aspen Words Prize|website=NPR.org|date=19 November 2018 |language=en|access-date=2018-12-29|last1=Mayer |first1=Petra }}

Kink,{{Cite book|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Kink/R-O-Kwon/9781982110215|title=Kink|date=2021-02-09|isbn=978-1-9821-1021-5|language=en|last1=Kwon|first1=R. O.|last2=Greenwell|first2=Garth|publisher=Simon and Schuster }} a nationally bestselling anthology that Kwon co-edited with Garth Greenwell, was released in 2021. Her second novel, Exhibit, also a national bestseller, was published in 2024.

Personal life

In November 2018, Kwon revealed that she is bisexual.{{cite web|url=https://www.autostraddle.com/korean-american-bestselling-author-r-o-kwon-is-bisexual-has-flawless-signature-eyeshadow-439524/|title=Korean-American Bestselling Author R.O. Kwon Is Bisexual, Has Flawless Signature Eyeshadow|last1=Rich|first1=Kaelyn|website=Autostraddle|date=9 November 2018 |access-date=10 November 2018}} The initials in her name stand for Reese, her English name, and Okyong, her Korean name. She publishes as R. O. Kwon.{{cite web|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/putting-her-anguish-into-words|title=Writer R. O. Kwon putting her anguish into words|last1=Ho|first1=Olivia|website=The Straits Times|date=25 September 2018 |access-date=18 January 2020}} Kwon lives in San Francisco, California, and "the long-term plan is to be here until climate change chases us out".