R.O. Kwon Mines Complexity of Desire, Both Romantic and Creative, in ‘Exhibit’

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KQED

News, Politics, News Commentary

4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2024

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In her new novel “Exhibit” R.O. Kwon introduces us to Jin Han, a photographer in San Francisco who’s unsure if her transgressive infatuation for a ballet dancer activated a family curse, conjuring a ghost from her family’s past in Korea. Through Jin, Kwon explores the nature of desire — and why shame too often accompanies it.. Kwon says it’s as though she “made a list of boxes a person might tick to explain why a woman ought to be disliked, perhaps despised, and then, writing this novel, I filled in each box.” We’ll talk with Kwon about why women especially feel shame for the desire they feel for others or for personal creative fulfillment — and for not desiring motherhood. And we’ll hear about how she grappled with her anxieties and reflected on her politics while writing this novel. Guests: R.O. Kwon, author, "Exhibit" and "The Incendiaries"; co-editor, "KINK: Stories" the anthology Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:44.6	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim. Coming up on forum, what would you risk to pursue your
1:07.1	core desires? That's a question writer Aroquwan explores in her new novel, Exhibit,
1:12.6	about a San Francisco photographer who finds herself intensely attracted to a ballerina,
1:17.5	which threatens to upend her marriage. Quan's novel delves into queer lust, the nature of
1:22.9	desire, and the power of shame. And Kwan admits, writing and putting the novel out into the world, gave her panic attacks.
1:30.8	Have you ever been afraid to put something you worked on out there, but are glad you did?
1:35.5	A conversation with R. O Kwan about sharing our deepest selves.
1:39.8	After this news.
1:47.0	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
1:49.0	In a piece for The Guardian, writer R. O'Quan describes her new novel, Exhibit, this way.
1:54.0	Exhibit follows a trio of Korean women rioting with desire.
1:59.0	It's shot through with physical longing, queer lust and kink,
	...

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