R.F. Kuang Author Talk and Book Signing

Schedule

Sat Dec 07 2024 at 04:00 pm to 06:00 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

1030 Elysian Fields Ave | New Orleans, LA

Advertisement
You know her, you love her. Come join us as we welcome the esteemed R.F. Kuang to Baldwin & Co for an author talk about her novels.
About this Event

This is an exclusive ticketed event! Ticket options include a general admission only, or general admission with an option to add on a copy of one of her novels including a special edition of The Poppy War.


Rebecca F. Kuang is the #1 New York Times and #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy, Babel: An Arcane History, and Yellowface. Her work has won the Nebula, Locus, Crawford, and British Book Awards. A Marshall Scholar, she has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford. She is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she studies diaspora, contemporary Sinophone literature, and Asian American literature.

For this event R.F. Kuang will be in conversation with Vaishnavi Patel.

The Poppy War: An all-new, fully illustrated, collector’s edition of R. F. Kuang’s debut novel, The Poppy War. Considered one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time, the story of orphaned Rin’s rise to power gets a fresh look with a full-wrap illustrated jacket and black-and-white interior art by JungShan Chang throughout, plus embossed case, designed end papers, and sprayed edges.

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.


Babel: A thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire.

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel.

Babel is the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide…

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?


Yellowface: White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences… Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American—in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel. Now with an excerpt from her forthcoming novel Katabasis!

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.

Advertisement

Where is it happening?

1030 Elysian Fields Ave, 1030 Elysian Fields Avenue, New Orleans, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

USD 6.24 to USD 48.24

Baldwin & Co.

Host or Publisher Baldwin & Co.

It's more fun with friends. Share with friends

Discover More Events in New Orleans

This is New Orleans Documentary Film Screening
Sat Dec 07 2024 at 12:00 pm This is New Orleans Documentary Film Screening

Youth Empowerment Project

ENTERTAINMENT IT
Side B at The Blue Crab
Sat Dec 07 2024 at 01:00 pm Side B at The Blue Crab

The Blue Crab Restaurant & Oyster Bar

Bienville House Holiday Suite
Sat Dec 07 2024 at 03:00 pm Bienville House Holiday Suite

Bienville House

HOLIDAY
2024 Algiers Holiday Bonfire & Concert
Sat Dec 07 2024 at 04:30 pm 2024 Algiers Holiday Bonfire & Concert

200 Morgan St

ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC
Two Nights In New Orleans - Art Exhibit
Sat Dec 07 2024 at 05:00 pm Two Nights In New Orleans - Art Exhibit

521 Newton St

ART
Movies Under the Stars
Sat Dec 07 2024 at 05:30 pm Movies Under the Stars

500 Port of New Orleans Pl, New Orleans, LA, United States, Louisiana 70130

ENTERTAINMENT HOLIDAY
2024 Algiers Holiday Bonfire & Concert
Sat Dec 07 2024 at 05:30 pm 2024 Algiers Holiday Bonfire & Concert

200 Morgan Street,New Orleans,70114,US

ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC
The Nayo Jones Experience at The Jazz Playhouse
Thu Feb 14 2019 at 08:00 pm The Nayo Jones Experience at The Jazz Playhouse

The Jazz Playhouse

MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
New Orleans French Quarter Drunken Ghost & Vampire 5 Star Tour
Wed Nov 11 2020 at 07:00 pm New Orleans French Quarter Drunken Ghost & Vampire 5 Star Tour

French Quarter Drunken Ghost and Vampire Tour / meet on the sidewalk at the courtyard of Lafittes Blacksmith Bar

PARTIES ART
New Orleans Cocktails History Voodoo Paranormal and Supernatural Tour
Wed Nov 11 2020 at 07:00 pm New Orleans Cocktails History Voodoo Paranormal and Supernatural Tour

New Orleans Cocktails History Voodoo Paranormal and Supernatural Tour -

TRIPS-ADVENTURES PARTIES
Unsolved Mysteries of New Orleans Tour
Fri Nov 13 2020 at 07:00 pm Unsolved Mysteries of New Orleans Tour

Unsolved Mysteries of New Orleans Tour

ART LITERARY-ART
Booze, History, Paranormal, Voodoo and Mystery Tour
Fri Nov 13 2020 at 07:00 pm Booze, History, Paranormal, Voodoo and Mystery Tour

Booze, History, Paranormal, Voodoo and Mystery Tour

WORKSHOPS ART
New Orleans Historical and Haunted Walking Tour
Sun Nov 15 2020 at 02:00 pm New Orleans Historical and Haunted Walking Tour

New Orleans Historical and Haunted Walking Tour

PARTIES ART
Entrepreneurship Coaching Session - New Orleans
Wed Mar 24 2021 at 07:00 pm Entrepreneurship Coaching Session - New Orleans

Phone Consultation

BUSINESS ART
Bayou Blues Burlesque
Fri May 14 2021 at 10:00 pm Bayou Blues Burlesque

The AllWays Lounge & Cabaret

DOG MUSIC
Venusian Nights: A Drag & Burlesque Spectacle
Thu Jul 08 2021 at 10:30 pm Venusian Nights: A Drag & Burlesque Spectacle

The AllWays Lounge & Cabaret

ART PERFORMANCES
New Orleans Scared Shitless Horror Night
Sat Oct 09 2021 at 07:00 pm New Orleans Scared Shitless Horror Night

New Orleans Walking Tours

PARTIES PUB-CRAWL
Drunken crash course of New Orleans - BOTTOMS UP!!!
Thu Oct 28 2021 at 07:00 pm Drunken crash course of New Orleans - BOTTOMS UP!!!

New Orleans Drunk Tours

PARTIES HALLOWEEN
New Orleans Ghost Adventure with Real Paranormal Equipment
Sat Oct 30 2021 at 02:00 pm New Orleans Ghost Adventure with Real Paranormal Equipment

Nawlins Theatrical Tours • New Orleans Drunk History Tours

TRIPS-ADVENTURES ART

What's Happening Next in New Orleans?

Discover New Orleans Events