R. O. Kwon, also known as Reese Okyong Kwon, is a South Korean and American author. In 2018, she published her nationally bestselling[2] debut novel The Incendiaries with Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Her second novel, Exhibit, was published in 2024 with Riverhead Books.[3]
Early life
Kwon was born in Seoul, South Korea, and moved to Los Angeles, California, with her family when she was three years old.[4] She was raised in a Christian household but at the age of 17 experienced a crisis of faith and stopped believing in God.
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.[16][17][18]The Incendiaries was named a best book of the year by more than 40 publications and organizations,[19][20] including The Today Show, NPR, BuzzFeed,The Atlantic, PBS Books, Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, and elsewhere, and is being translated into seven languages.[21] Before the book's release, Kwon was called one of "4 writers to watch" by The New York Times.[22]The Incendiaries is an American Booksellers Association Indie Next #1 Great Read[23] and an American Booksellers Association Indies Introduce Pick.[24] The novel received the Housatonic Book Prize,[25] and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award for Best First Book,[26] the Los Angeles Times First Book Prize,[27] and the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Fiction Prize.[28] In addition, the book has been nominated for the American Library Association Carnegie Medal[29] and Aspen Prize.[30]
Kink,[31] a nationally bestselling anthology that Kwon co-edited with Garth Greenwell, was released in 2021. Her second novel, Exhibit, was published in 2024.
Personal life
In November 2018, Kwon revealed that she is bisexual.[32] The initials in her name stand for Reese, her English name, and Okyong, her Korean name. She publishes as R. O. Kwon.[33] Kwon lives in San Francisco, California, and "the long-term plan is to be here until climate change chases us out".[3]