Interview | Rebecca F. Kuang on challenging the idea of home and homecoming in ‘Taipei Story’
Author R.F. Kuang discusses her latest novel, 'Taipei Story,' which explores themes of grief, identity, and heritage through a fictional lens. She explains why she chose fiction over memoir to better dramatize the coming-of-age experience.
Why it matters
It provides insight into the creative process of a prominent contemporary author and the cultural themes currently shaping modern literature.
Author Rebecca F. Kuang, who writes fantasy as R.F. Kuang, was born in Guangzhou, China, and raised in Dallas, Texas. She rose to prominence at just 21 with the publication of The Poppy War (2018) , the first instalment in her acclaimed grimdark fantasy trilogy, which drew on Chinese history and mythology while exploring the violence and moral ambiguities of war. Since then, Kuang has moved fluidly between genres, writing historical and speculative fiction as well as contemporary novels that examine questions of race, identity, language and cultural power. Her latest, Taipei Story (HarperCollins India), is the bestselling, award-winning author’s seventh novel and only her second contemporary work after Yellowface (2023) .
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