Point Loma Nazarene University’s Writer’s Symposium by the Sea hosted Rebecca F. (R.F.) Kuang, an American author and doctoral student at Yale University, on Sept. 11 to speak about her new dark academia novel “Katabasis.” The first event was a free Q&A with Breeann Kirby, PLNU professor of writing and environmental studies, in Latter Hall. The second was a large ticketed interview with Dean Nelson, PLNU professor of multimedia journalism, in Brown Chapel.
I attended the earlier Q&A, which was coordinated by Robbie Maakestad, PLNU’s Master’s in Writing Program director, and Nelson. It was quaint and intimate, yet the room was diverse, full of students, professors and community members of all ages, united by their intrigue in “Katabasis.” Sixty readers attended to ask Kuang questions about her research, characters’ desires, the dark academia genre and her writing process. The evening interview in Brown Chapel hosted over 1,300 students, faculty and Kuang fans.
29-year-old Kuang is one of the youngest writers that the Writer’s Symposium has hosted. She began her career by writing “The Poppy War,” her first novel, at 19 years old, which she published before she turned 22.
Michael Lodahl, PLNU professor of theology and world religions, thought that Kuang’s age was one thing that made her interview stand out from previous ones. He also enjoyed getting a glimpse of how she wrote “Katabasis” and other stories.
“I thought she was brilliant and delightful,” Lodahl said. “It’s astounding that she’s done all this, and she isn’t yet 30 years old. I loved listening to her talk about her writing process.”
Kuang writes alone, but her process of writing a book is social. Her father, husband and agent are among the first people to see her drafts and give her new perspectives on the chapters.
Kuang compared her writing process to running. She emphasized the difficulty, discipline and universality of the sport.
“Running is hard,” Kuang said, laughing during the interview.
Yet Kuang said she gets up every morning and forces herself to run, no matter how she feels. She said that the day’s tasks after those morning runs feel easier.
Morgan Charrette, a volunteer at the evening event and a graduate student in PLNU’s Master’s in Writing Program, found Kuang’s opinion that running is the physical equivalent of writing to be compelling.
“It was really great to have a writer as prolific and talented as R.F. Kuang visit our school,” Charrette said. “Hearing her approach to art and storytelling was inspiring to me as a fellow writer. Particularly, her comparison of writing to the act of running. The most difficult part of both is just getting started, and when you finally do, you’re in the zone. I had never thought of it like that before.”
While Kuang runs on the sidewalk, she writes on the train, plane, bus, in her office, alone and with others. Her writing styles are just as varied as her writing times. She said that her initial drafts are messy. Recently, Kuang picked up the habit of writing in free-verse poetry, inspired by poet Patricia Lockwood.
“Who knows what the final product will look like? It’s just really fun for me,” Kuang said.
By the end of the hour, the room was hanging onto Kuang’s every word as the conversation’s subject evolved from writing to life. I wondered whether those two are the same. They are for Kuang. They are for every writer whom Nelson has interviewed over the past 30 years. They are for me.
After pondering with the group on these questions, I walked to Brown Chapel to volunteer for the evening event.
Warwick’s, the country’s oldest family-owned and operated bookstore, supports this unity of life and writing for growing authors. The company hosted Kuang for her tour. With the help of 15 PLNU faculty members, students and alumni volunteers, including myself, Warwick’s and Kuang preened, presigned and packaged 1,500 copies of “Katabasis” in 45 minutes.
The process of presigning was hectic, as we formed a human conveyor belt to get the stacks of “Katabasis” from underneath Kuang’s sharpie into towering piles at the guest entrance door at the back of Brown Chapel. But after getting to know Kuang and her writing in the Q&A earlier, I felt excited to be helping such an accomplished young writer, less than 10 years older than I am. As an aspiring writer, it was thrilling to see that young people can, in fact, publish successful stories full of wisdom.
After the interview, we guided guests to Kuang’s signing booth, where she personalized books for 90 minutes after the interview was finished.
The efficiency of the event could not have happened without Ashley Montaño, the coordinator of the Writer’s Symposium. Montaño shared the complicated process of organizing the symposium and the biggest challenges faced by her and her team every year.
“Coordinating this type of event is a multi-step, multi-layered process that requires a lot of people to pull things off with excellence,” Montaño said.
Montaño and her team request rooms, event services, technical support, traffic control, volunteer coordination and more from PLNU’s facilities. UCSD-TV records every evening interview, and live musicians are hired to open the events. Even PLNU clubs get involved, advertising in the lobby at tables before the interview starts.
Montaño also said the biggest challenge of this event is often budget limitations, but it’s their annual donors who help keep the symposium alive and viable for future generations of PLNU students.
I’m thrilled to volunteer again for the next Writer’s Symposium with Mitch Albom on Oct. 27, the internationally renowned and best-selling author of “Tuesdays with Morrie” who will be discussing his new romance novel “Twice.”
Albom visited last spring on March 26 to discuss his novel “The Little Liar.” The interview is available on the UCSD-TV Writer’s Symposium website. It changed my life.
PLNU students can attend the interview for $5 with the code “PLNU25,” and faculty or staff can get discounted tickets as well for $15 with the code “PLNUSF26.”
Sydney Brammer