R. O. Kwon
{{Short description|South Korean and American author}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{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/auto
| title = Korean name
| hangul = %권오경
}}
R.O Kwon, also known as Reese Okyong Kwon, is a South Korean and American author. In 2018, she published her debut novel The Incendiaries with Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Her second novel, Exhibit, was published in 2024.
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 magazine |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|magazine=Hyphen |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/article/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".{{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}}
Awards
Bibliography
{{Incomplete list|date=May 2025}}
- {{cite book |last=Kwon |first=Reese |title=The Incendiaries |publisher=Riverhead Books |year=2018 |isbn=9780735213890 |edition=hardcover 1st |author-mask=2}}
- {{cite book |last=Kwon |first=Reese |title=Exhibit |publisher=Riverhead Books |year=2024 |isbn=9780593190029 |edition=hardcover 1st |author-mask=2}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{official website|https://ro-kwon.com/}}
- [https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16556776.R_O_Kwon R. O. Kwon] on Goodreads
- {{LibraryThing author|name=R. O. Kwon}}
- [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2171004/r-o-kwon/ Profile] at Random House
- [https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/R-O-Kwon/150153850 Profile] at Simon & Schuster
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwon, R. O.}}
Category:21st-century American novelists
Category:21st-century American women writers
Category:21st-century South Korean LGBTQ people
Category:American bisexual writers
Category:American LGBTQ novelists
Category:American LGBTQ people of Asian descent
Category:American writers of Korean descent
Category:Bisexual women writers
Category:Brooklyn College alumni
Category:South Korean bisexual people
Category:South Korean emigrants to the United States
Category:South Korean LGBTQ novelists