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R. F. Kuang

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Rebecca F. Kuang
Native name
匡 靈 秀
Born (1996-05-29) May 29, 1996 (age 28)[1]
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
OccupationFantasy writer
LanguageEnglish
EducationOdyssey Writing Workshop
Yale University (currently attending)
Alma mater
GenreFantasy
Years active2018 – present
Notable awards
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese匡靈秀
Simplified Chinese匡灵秀
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinKuāng Língxiù
Website
rfkuang.com

Rebecca F. Kuang is a Chinese-American fantasy writer.[2] Her first novel, The Poppy War, was released in 2018, followed by the sequel The Dragon Republic in 2019.[3] Kuang has won the Compton Crook Award,[4] the Crawford Award,[5] and the 2020 Astounding Award for Best New Writer,[6] along with being a finalist for the Nebula,[7] Locus,[8] and World Fantasy Awards[9] for her first novel.

Early life and education

She immigrated to the United States from Guangzhou, China, with her family when she was four years old.[10][11] Kuang's father grew up in Leiyang, in Hunan province; her mother grew up on Hainan Island.[12] Her mother's father fought for Chiang Kai-shek.[12] Her father's family experienced the Japanese conquest of Hunan.[12][13]

Kuang grew up in Dallas, Texas and graduated from Greenhill School in 2013.[14] She went on to Georgetown University, attracted by the college's well-known debating team after winning the Tournament of Champions.[10] Halfway through college, Kuang was 19 when she began writing Poppy War during a gap year in China, where she worked as a debate coach; the book was published when she was 22.[10][15] Kuang graduated from the Odyssey Writing Workshop in 2016 and attended the CSSF Novel Writing Workshop in 2017.[11] She graduated from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service in June 2018. She spent the summer after graduation coaching a debate camp in Colorado.[12][10][15]

She attended Magdalene College, University of Cambridge as a recipient of a 2018 Marshall Scholarship, where she gained a Master of Philosophy in Chinese Studies.[2][15][16] The following academic year, she studied at Oxford University and received a MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies.[16] Kuang returned to the United States in the fall 2020 to pursue a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale University.[17][18]

Kuang was originally scheduled to deliver the 8th annual J.R.R. Tolkien Lecture on Fantasy Literature at Pembroke College, Oxford in 2020,[19] but it was postponed to the following year due to the world-wide Covid-19 pandemic. She also took part in a virtual seminar that was held in place of the postponed annual seminar.[20]

Literary works

Her debut novel The Poppy War, a Chinese military fantasy, was published by Harper Voyager in 2018 and is the first book in the Poppy War trilogy.[21] The Poppy War has received mainly favorable reviews, with Publishers Weekly calling it "a strong and dramatic launch to Kuang’s career".[22] In December 2020, Starlight Media, the U.S. film subsidiary of China-based Starlight Culture Entertainment Group, has optioned the rights to adapt Kuang's Poppy Wars trilogy for television.[23]

In 2020, she wrote a short story in the Star Wars universe called Against All Odds about a character named Dak Ralter. It was published in the anthology From a certain point of view: 40 stories celebrating 40 years of The empire strikes back.[24]

The Poppy War

Main article: The Poppy War

The Poppy War, a grimdark fantasy, draws its plot and politics from mid-20th-century China,[25][26][27] with the conflict in the novel based on the Second Sino-Japanese War, and an atmosphere inspired by the Song dynasty.[28] The Poppy War was nominated for the 2019 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.[29]

The Dragon Republic

Released in 2019, The Dragon Republic is the sequel to The Poppy War. The Nikan Empire begins to fall apart due to in fighting and the Hesparians return. The reviewer for Fantasy Book Review wrote "Kuang excels at wreaking emotional havoc while delivering a powerful meditation on war and survival."[30] Publishers Weekly said that "Kuang brings brilliance to this invigorating and complex military fantasy sequel to The Poppy War."[31]

The Burning God

Released in 2020, The Burning God is the sequel to The Dragon Republic and the conclusion to the Poppy Wars series. Rin fights the forces that have torn her country apart into a civil war. A reviewer for The Fantasy Hive wrote, "Rebecca Kuang's conclusion to her debut trilogy, The Poppy War, is testament to her growth as a writer; not only is it a fitting close to an ambitious series."[32] The reviewer for Publishers Weekly said that "[t]he result is a satisfying if not happy end to the series."[33]

Awards

Kuang's novel The Poppy War was finalist for the Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards. The novel won the 2019 Compton Crook Award for best first English language novel of the year[4] and the 2019 Crawford Award, presented annually by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts.[5]

Kuang was also a finalist for the 2019 Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and won the renamed 2020 Astounding Award for Best New Writer.

Bibliography

Poppy War series

  • The Poppy War (May 2018), ISBN 978-0062662569
  • The Dragon Republic (August 2019), ISBN 978-0062662637
  • The Burning God (November 2020), ISBN 978-0062662620

Short stories

Academic lectures and symposia

References

  1. ^ "R.F. Kuang: Distortions". Locus. July 15, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Linton, Rachel (December 10, 2017). "Georgetown Author R.F. Kuang Speaks on Upcoming Novel 'The Poppy War'". The Hoya. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  3. ^ Liptak, Andrew (August 1, 2019). "10 new science fiction and fantasy novels to check out this August". The Verge. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Kuang Wins Compton Crook Award". Locus. April 15, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Kuang Wins Crawford Award". Locus. February 1, 2019.
  6. ^ "Astounding Award". The Hugo Awards. August 9, 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  7. ^ "R.F. Kuang". Nebula Awards. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  8. ^ locusmag (June 29, 2019). "2019 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  9. ^ "World Fantasy Awards℠ 2019 | World Fantasy Convention". Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d Randall, Kayla (July 20, 1018). "How a Georgetown Student Published Her Epic Fantasy Debut—Before She Turned 22". Washington City Paper. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  11. ^ a b "R. F. Kuang". Worlds Without End. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  12. ^ a b c d Kidd, James (July 25, 2018). "China's bloody history and Game of Thrones-style fantasy unite in author R.F. Kuang's debut novel". South China Morning Post. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  13. ^ Junzhou, Qiu; Shilong, Yang (June 7, 2018). "Feature: Young Chinese American writer tells forgotten WWII history in fantasy setting". Xinhua. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  14. ^ "Alumna Rebecca Kuang '13 Awarded 2018 Marshall Scholarship". Greenhill School. September 5, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  15. ^ a b c "First Novel in Trilogy by Recent Grad Draws on Georgetown Studies". Georgetown University. July 17, 2018. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  16. ^ a b "About". Rebecca F. Kuang. August 4, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  17. ^ Chen, Ana (2020). "Interview with Rebecca Kuang". It's Real Magazine.
  18. ^ Yu, Alan (November 24, 2020). "In The Poppy War Series, R.F. Kuang Asks: 'What If Mao Was A Teenage Girl?'". NPR.
  19. ^ "Rebecca F. Kuang to deliver the Eighth Tolkien Lecture at Pembroke". Pembroke College. February 29, 2020.
  20. ^ "Digital Tolkien Symposium attracts 1,500 participants". Pembroke College. May 26, 2020.
  21. ^ Duspiva, Alyssa. "R.F. Kuang Stuns With Her Debut Fantasy Novel, The Poppy War". RT Book Reviews. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  22. ^ "Fiction Book Review: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. Harper Voyager, $26.99 (544p)". Publishers Weekly. March 5, 2018. ISBN 978-0-06-266256-9. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  23. ^ Peter White (December 8, 2020). "Starlight Media Developing TV Adaptation Of Rebecca F. Kuang's Fantasy Books Including 'The Poppy War'". Deadline.com.
  24. ^ ""The Empire Strikes Back: From a Certain Point of View" Star Wars Anthology Book Announced". Laughing Place. October 6, 2020.
  25. ^ Cunningham, Joel (January 11, 2018). "Cover Story: R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War, an Epic Debut Inspired by 20th Century China". The B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  26. ^ McPherson, Peter (May 1, 2018). "15 Best New Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books: May 2018". Nerd Much?. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  27. ^ Mason, Everdeen (May 2, 2018). "Best science fiction and fantasy books out this month (brief book review)". Washington Post. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  28. ^ Pickens, Chris (May 1, 2018). "R.F. Kuang - Interview". BookPage. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  29. ^ "World Fantasy Awards℠ 2019". World Fantasy Convention. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  30. ^ Weller, Adam. "The Dragon Republic by R F Kuang (The Poppy War #2)". Fantasy Book Review.
  31. ^ "Fiction Book Review: The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang. Harper Voyager, $26.99 (672p)". Publishers Weekly. May 22, 2019.
  32. ^ Magnus, Filip (December 10, 2020). "The Burning God by R. F. Kuang—Book Review". The Fantasy Hive.
  33. ^ {{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-266262-0 |title=Fiction Book Review: The Burning God by R.F. Kuang. Harper Voyager, $26.99 (640p) |work=Publishers Weekly |date=2020-08-04
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