R.O. Kwon Headshot

R.O. Kwon

Adjunct Professor

Biography

R. O. Kwon’s Exhibit, a novel, will be published in May 2024 with Riverhead. Kwon’s nationally bestselling first novel, The Incendiaries, has been translated into seven languages and was named a best book of the year by over forty publications. The Incendiaries was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award. Kwon and Garth Greenwell co-edited the bestselling Kink, a New York Times Notable Book and recipient of the inaugural Joy Award.

Kwon’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships and awards from MacDowell, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Yaddo, and she will be the Stein Visiting Writer at Stanford University in 2024.

Education

  • MFA, Brooklyn College
  • BA, Yale University

Prior Experience

  • Stein Visiting Writer, Stanford University
  • Mary Routt Endowed Chair of Writing, Scripps College

Awards & Distinctions

  • The Incendiaries and Kink: national bestsellers

  • The Incendiaries: named a best book of the year by over 40 publications

  • National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, finalist

  • National Endowment for the Arts

  • New York Times Notable Book and Editor's Choice

Selected Publications

  • R.O. Kwon (2024) Exhibit, Riverhead
  • R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell, eds. (2021) Kink, Simon & Schuster
  • R.O. Kwon (2018) The Incendiaries, Riverhead