Contact & Media Kit
Please contact me using the form below. For blurb requests, please contact Trish Skinner.
Media Kit
Short Bio
Karen Bao does science in the lab, then goes home and writes about it. A Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University, she studies mosquito brains by blasting them with an electron beam. Her favorite activities include cooking, tending her plants, singing, and playing her violin. She is the author of Pangu’s Shadow (Lerner, 2024), the Dove Chronicles trilogy (Penguin Teen). and a contributor to the upcoming young adult mental health anthology (AB)SOLUTELY NORMAL (Candlewick Press).
Download headshot here.
She is represented by Tricia Skinner at Fuse Literary.
Longer Bio
Karen Bao was born in California, raised in New Jersey, and consequently loves oceans and beaches. An avid scientist, she holds a BA in Biology from Columbia University and an MA and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. Karen is also a lifelong musician who can often be found playing violin or singing along to any genre of music.
Dove Arising (Viking/Penguin, 2015), written when she was a high school senior, became her young adult debut. The novel was inspired by her family’s experiences in 20th-century China and by her love of science. It was featured at Comic Con New York, Tucson Festival of Books, and Queens Book Festival. Called “the debut of a promising new talent” by author Christopher Paolini and “a world of true science fiction” by Bustle Magazine, it was translated into Spanish, German, Swedish, Portuguese, Chinese, and French. Sequels Dove Exiled and Dove Alight were published in 2016 and 2017.
Karen’s young adult contemporary short story, “A Bridge Over Silence,” will be published in the mental health fiction anthology Ab(solutely) Normal (Candlewick Press) in Spring 2023. Pangu’s Shadow, her YA murder mystery in space, was published in Spring 2024 by Carolrhoda/Lerner.
Karen can be found on Tiktok as @karenbao, on Instagram as @Karenbao, and on her website, www.karenbao.com. She is represented by Tricia Skinner at Fuse Literary.