R.O. Kwon’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Paris Review, Buzzfeed, NPR, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Yaddo, MacDowell, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Named a best book of the year by over forty publications, The Incendiaries, her first published novel, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Award for Best First Book, Los Angeles Times First Book Prize, and Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Fiction Prize. The book was also nominated for the Aspen Prize, Carnegie Medal, and the Northern California Book Award. Kwon’s next novel, as well as an essay collection, is forthcoming.

Born in Seoul, Kwon has lived most of her life in the United States. Her web site is https://ro-kwon.com/. 

The Visiting Writer Series, co-presented with University Libraries, welcomes six writers each semester—two each in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Participating writers meet with MFA students in small afternoon workshops and then present an evening reading, open to the general public. All readings take place in the Fenwick Library Main Reading Room, 2001 Fenwick, on Mason’s Fairfax Campus.