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"Exhibit" : An Evening with R.O. Kwon

A conversation with R.O. Kwon for her new book "Exhibit."

Join the Library, Loyalty Bookstores and The Writer's Center for an author event with R.O. Kwon for her new book Exhibit. In conversation with Lupita Aquino, Kwon will discuss this exhilarating, blazing-hot novel about a woman caught between her desires and her life. 

Books will be available for sales and signing, and a limited number will be given away courtesy of the DC Public Library Foundation.

About the book

At a lavish party in the hills outside of San Francisco, Jin Han meets Lidija Jung and nothing will ever be the same for either woman. A brilliant young photographer, Jin is at a crossroads in her work, in her marriage to her college love Philip, and in who she is and who she wants to be. Lidija is an alluring, injured world-class ballerina on hiatus from her ballet company under mysterious circumstances. Drawn to each other by their intense artistic drives, the two women talk all night.

Cracked open, Jin finds herself telling Lidija about an old familial curse, breaking a lifelong promise. She's been told that if she doesn’t keep the curse a secret, she risks losing everything; death and ruin could lie ahead. As Jin and Lidija become more entangled, they realize they share more than the ferocity of their ambition, and begin to explore hidden desires. Something is ignited in Jin: her art, her body, and her sense of self irrevocably changed. But can she avoid the specter of the curse? Vital, bold, powerful, and deeply moving, Exhibit asks: how brightly can you burn before you light your life on fire?

About the author

R. O. Kwon’s Exhibit, a novel, will publish in May 2024 with Riverhead (US) and in July 2024 with Virago/Little Brown (UK). 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, Guardian, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships and awards from MacDowell, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Yaddo, and she is the Stein Visiting Writer at Stanford University. Born in Seoul, Kwon has lived most of her life in the United States.

About the conversation partner

Lupita Aquino—better known as @Lupita.Reads on Instagram and TikTok, passionately spreads her love for books online. Alongside her vibrant online presence, she has contributed insightful book coverage to outlets such as TODAY.com, Aster(ix) Literary Journal, She Reads, The Washington Independent Review of Books, and many more. Notably, Lupita has served as a judge for the 2023 Louise Meriwether First Prize for the Feminist Press and was on the Selection Committee for the Aspen Words Literary Prize in 2021. When not immersed in books, she enjoys exploring local bookstores and libraries with her wife and son.

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