R. O. Kwon

Kwon was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was three.[3] 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.[4] She has a Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College.[5]

Kwon's work has appeared in publications including The New York Times,[6] The Guardian,[7] The Paris Review,[8] BuzzFeed,[9] Vice,[10] New York Magazine's The Cut,[11] and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts,[12] Yaddo,[13] and MacDowell.[14]

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 it took her 10 years to finish.[15][16][17] The Incendiaries was named a best book of the year by over 40 publications and organizations,[18][19] including the Today Show, NPR, BuzzFeed, The Atlantic, PBS Books, Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, and elsewhere, and it is being translated into seven languages.[20] Before the book's release, Kwon was called one of "4 writers to watch" by The New York Times.[21] The Incendiaries is an American Booksellers Association Indie Next #1 Great Read[22] and an American Booksellers Association Indies Introduce Pick.[23] The novel received the Housatonic Book Prize,[24] and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award for Best First Book,[25] Los Angeles Times First Book Prize,[26] and Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Fiction Prize.[27] In addition, the book has been nominated for the American Library Association Carnegie Medal[28] and Aspen Prize.[29]

Her second book, Kink,[30] an anthology Kwon co-edited with Garth Greenwell, was released in February 2021.

In November 2018 Kwon revealed that she is bisexual.[31] The initials in her name stand for Reese, her English name, and Okyong, her Korean name.[32]

• Official website