Virtual Illinois Libraries Presents: “Babel-On with R.F. Kuang,” May 20
Wednesday, May 20, 7 p.m.
Presented by the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libraries
With her 2025 novel Katabasis lauded by the New York Times Book Review as a work that "shines with devastatingly real characters and absorbing world building," a bestselling, award-winning takes part in the May 20 virtual conversation Babel-On with R.F. Kuang, a thoughtful and entertaining look into the author's process hosted by Illinois Libraries Present, and offered through the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libraries.
Kuang’s genre-bending fiction broaches ordinarily serious topics from a satirical and fantastical perspective. Academic yet approachable, Kuang’s work combines history, magic, and classical literary tradition to render powerful critiques of academia, the publishing industry, and even contemporary popular culture. Her most recent novel, Katabasis, follows two graduate students as they descend into hell after the death of their professor, and the screen rights options to the novel were sold to Amazon MGM Studios for an upcoming TV series before its publication. Kuang’s other bestselling titles include Yellowface, Babel, and The Poppy War trilogy, and she is the recipient of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction, and the American Book Award.
She was also named to the 2023 Time100 Next list and the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2024. A Marshall Scholar, Kuang has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford. She is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she researches Sinophone literature and Asian American literature.
Kelly Jensen, an anti-censorship advocate, a senior editor at Book Riot, and writer who has compiled such anthologies as Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World and (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, will be joining Kuang in conversation. This online session offered through the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libarries is made possible by Illinois Libraries Present (ILP), a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. ILP is funded in part by a grant awarded by the Illinois State Library, a department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).
The virtual program Babel-On with R.F. Kuang will take place on May 20, participation in the 7 p.m. event is free, and more information is available by calling (309)732-7323 and visiting RockIslandLibrary.org, or calling (309)755-3393 and visiting SilvisLibrary.org.
