Illinois LIbraries Present

Join critically-acclaimed, bestselling author, Cristina Henríquez, for a compelling conversation about her work. Henríquez’s newest book, The Great DivideExternal Link, is a moving exploration of the people who lived, loved, and labored during the construction of the Panama Canal. Named one of The New York Times’ "Editors’ Choice" selections and one of TIME Magazine's “100 Must-Read Books of 2024,” The Great Divide explores history and adversity in a place very special to her: her father’s homeland of Panama.

Henríquez has also authored The Book of Unknown AmericansExternal Link, The World in HalfExternal Link, and Come Together, Fall ApartExternal Link, all to significant acclaim. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The Best American Short Stories 2018, and she is a recipient of the 21st Century Award given by The Chicago Public Library Foundation. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and lives in the Chicago suburbs with her family.

Carmen Álvarez will join Henríquez as moderator. Álvarez is an advocate for libraries and Latinx representation in the publishing industry. Her work has appeared in Glamour, Elle, and Vogue, and she has a social media presence surpassing 180k followers across platforms.

R.F. Kuang’s genre-bending fiction broaches ordinarily serious topics from a satirical and fantastical perspective. Academic yet approachable, Kuang’s work combines history, magic, and classical literary tradition to render powerful critiques of academia, the publishing industry, and even contemporary popular culture. 

Her most recent novel, KatabasisExternal Link, follows two graduate students as they descend into hell after the death of their professor, and the screen rights options to the novel were sold to Amazon MGM Studios for an upcoming TV series before its publication. Kuang’s other bestselling titles include YellowfaceExternal Link, BabelExternal Link, and The Poppy WarExternal Link trilogy, and she is the recipient of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fiction, and the American Book Award. 

Kelly Jensen, an anti-censorship advocate, senior editor at Book Riot, and writer who has compiled such anthologies as Here We Are: Feminism for the Real WorldExternal Link and (Don’t) Call Me CrazyExternal Link, will be joining Kuang in conversation.