Some linguistic fun for a Sunday morning.

thank you for coming!

❤️

@rfkuang.bsky.social and @nkjemisin.bsky.social are coming to Writers Center Stage in Cleveland and you can still get tickets!! Just grabbed mine. case.edu/maltzcenter/...

really excited about this book!

book cover image

Next on the LibraryReads August 2025 Hall of Fame list is KATABASIS by R. F. Kuang! @librarylovefest.bsky.social

❤️

La Editorial Hidra anuncia para el 1 de septiembre la publicación de la novela CATÁBASIS de R.F. Kuang @rfkuang.bsky.social, una historia a medio camino entre el LA DIVINA COMEDIA de Dante y PIRANESI de Susanna Clarke:
t.co/PxVkRwZrbj #Catábasis #RebeccaFKuang #Katabasis

first time doing book events ever in : Austin, Indianpolis, Chicago, Nashville, San Diego, Calgary, and Hamilton. i'm very excited!

i'm going on tour in the US/UK/Canada for KATABAISS in late August/September ❤️ all the dates, locations, and ticket links are up now: smarturl.it/2F5F7c

thank you, Heide!! i hope we'll get to see each other in September :)

Noch basteln wir an der Übersetzung, Alexandra Jordan und ich 😊 Und das Buch ist vollgepackt mit witzigen Zitaten, klugen Anspielungen, wissenswerten Haupt- und Nebensächlichkeiten. Wie man‘s kennt von @rfkuang.bsky.social 😌🤓

Grassroots college leader group resists anti-DEI legislation Education for All, a grassroots network of mostly community college leaders, is spreading strategies for how to resist anti-DEI bills and rhetoric.

An inspiring article on courageous community college leaders who are *publicly* organizing and standing up against DEI attacks.. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Lauren is wonderful. Querying authors, note:

Cover of the novel Katabasis by R. F. Kuang. View is of a square tower, looking down from above. The bottom of the tower recedes into the distance, suggesting the infinity of a Sisyphean task. An impossible Penrose staircase goes around the top of the tower. Inside more staircases are visible, possibly also Penrose staircases; maybe they're all the same staircase and the distinction is an illusion. One figure, apparently female, runs along the staircase at the top. Another figure, apparently male, appears to be one level lower and is writing mathematical equations on an endless row of blackboards. Pages blow off of a stack of papers that is placed on the top of the tower, suggesting a thesis that is both unfinished and about to be lost. The pages encircle the tower and emerge towards the viewer, inviting—urging even—a deeper exploration into this hellish vision of academia.

This is a recommendation for #MathSky and anyone else who likes to read or works in academia.

R. F. Kuang's Katabasis comes out this August. The cover has just been revealed. See that Penrose staircase? There will be much more math inside, I promise. Along with searing commentary and a great story.

What’s New About Woke Racial Capitalism (and What Isn’t) – Spectre Journal Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò and Enzo Rossi explain how "woke" racial capitalism reveals contradictory tendencies in the material structure of capitalism and its ideological superstructure.

"Rejecting identitarianism...means abandoning the neoliberal dream of impeccably multicolored boardrooms. But it does not mean retreating into a tone-deaf class-only politics."

myself and @enzoreds.bsky.social for @journalspectre.bsky.social.
spectrejournal.com/whats-new-ab...

Congrats to @rfkuang.bsky.social on another amazing release! Pre-order your copy of this stunning edition of "Katabasis" (out 8/2025) from our website and have it signed or personalized 🖋️ www.harvard.com/rf-kuang-sig...

i enjoyed that chat so much. thanks, Lee!

OFF BOOK: Rebecca F Kuang YouTube video by Richland Library

I had the privilege to ask some questions of @rfkuang.bsky.social at Richland Library for our Off Book series. I particularly love the answer about how different languages mark the passing with time. youtu.be/DDeBqV-U0V8?...

aww Anton! readers definitely feel that way about you already. i enjoyed that panel so much. hope we get to do it again soon!!

With @sdileonardi.bsky.social and @beccacohen.bsky.social, I wrote a shortish essay on The Girl on the Train and how self-branding is changing authorship. For a fascinating special issue of Studies in the Novel ed by @megaplex.bsky.social and @sarahdallison.bsky.social muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

From the Pudong Airport to Tiananmen Square | Los Angeles Review of Books Rebecca F. Kuang reviews Lai Wen’s “Tiananmen Square” and Juli Min’s “Shanghailanders.”

"Where 'Shanghailanders' spins outwards across time and space, 'Tiananmen Square' enters squarely into a saturated discourse about one particular time and place: Tiananmen Square, June 1989." Rebecca Kuang reviews "Tiananmen Square" and "Shanghailanders." lareviewofbooks.org/article/from...

From the Pudong Airport to Tiananmen Square | Los Angeles Review of Books Rebecca F. Kuang reviews Lai Wen’s “Tiananmen Square” and Juli Min’s “Shanghailanders.”

i wrote about Juli Min's SHANGHAILANDERS and Lai Wen's TIANANMEN SQUARE, two debut novels from this past year that i enjoyed greatly

lareviewofbooks.org/article/from...

From the Pudong Airport to Tiananmen Square | Los Angeles Review of Books Rebecca F. Kuang reviews Lai Wen’s “Tiananmen Square” and Juli Min’s “Shanghailanders.”

Just up at @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, an engaging essay on two novels, Shanghailanders and Tiananmen Square, reviewed astutely by @rfkuang.bsky.social
lareviewofbooks.org/article/from...

B&N Union Square Five Golden Days of Author Signings Monday, December 16th at 3PM

NOLA December 7th at 4:00 pm Baldwin & Co https://kuangrf.eventbrite.com

i have two more public events upcoming this year, one in NOLA and one in NYC. tickets and more event details linked here, and please excuse the NOLA graphic for being so extra - I did not make it but I am flattered 🙈

NOLA: kuangrf.eventbrite.com
NYC: firstgoldendaybnusq.eventbrite.com

Collector’s edition of THE POPPY WAR looks especially beautiful in the winter sun @rfkuang.bsky.social

Art: Instagram: @mchernovart

Las palabras cuentan historias. En concreto, la historia de esas palabras -cómo empezaron a usarse y cómo su significado se transformó en lo que significan hoy- nos cuentan tanto o más sobre un pueblo que cualquier otro tipo de artefacto histórico.

Babel - @rfkuang.bsky.social

Front cover of the Collector's Edition of The Poppy War by RF Kuang - a girl is jumping in a battle stance with a sword in one hand and fire in the other. A phoenix flies above her and in the background is an army.

The edges of the book are painted with flames.

A hand drawn illustration of two armies facing off against each other. One is mounted, the other armed with bows and arrows. They are surrounded by mountains.

My Collector's Edition of @rfkuang.bsky.social's The Poppy War came yesterday - and it is STUNNING! I had completely forgotten it was illustrated so that was a lovely surprise. Fingers crossed they do the other two as well! #Booksky 📚💙

anyways, i am currently writing a Novel About a City, and trying to read as many Novels About (real) Cities as I can – eg Ben Lerner's LEAVING THE ATOCHA STATION, Elif Batuman's THE IDIOT, Katie Kitamura's INTIMACIES, Teju Cole's OPEN CITY... any recommendations, particularly for cities in Asia?

(i dipped into threads briefly to see what was going on there...what a mess!)

i will use this space to chat about interesting books and re-share knowledge from thinkers and activists who i learned something from. i really missed having a social space in which to think out loud!