
R.F. Kuang comes to Toronto to discuss her latest book with Mattea Roach
American author R.F. Kuang will join Bookends host Mattea Roach on stage on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. at Koerner Hall in Toronto.
The event, which is part of a series by the Toronto Festival of Authors, will be broadcast on a future episode of Bookends with Mattea Roach.
Kuang is the New York Times #1 bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, the historical fantasy novel Babel and the satirical thriller Yellowface. She has received Nebula, Locus, Crawford and British Book Awards for her writing and is pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale University.
Kuang will discuss her previous novels and rise to success. She'll also dive into the inspiration behind her latest book, Katabasis.
Katabasis tells the story of two graduate students with an intense academic rivalry who must put aside their feud to save their professor and get a coveted recommendation letter. To do so, they must travel into the depths of hell — a journey that is never without consequences — and bring up feelings they've so desperately tried to suppress.
Roach is a Toronto broadcaster, writer and book lover. Now the host of Bookends, they appeared on the game show Jeopardy! in 2022, where they won 23 games, the most ever won by a Canadian contestant. Roach also won Canada Reads in 2023, championing Ducks by Kate Beaton. They are from Halifax.
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