In the Year of Our Keanu 2025 my nerdy opus about his movies and more has finally hit shelves, virtually and physically. Most excellent! Much Ado About Keanu: A Critical Reeves Theory is the first ever sociocultural deep dive into Mr. Reeves creative talents, and buzz is building about what will be a seminal work about his, well, work.
From Sezin Devi Koehler’s upcoming events and other appearances as well as blurbs and reviews, here’s where you can follow Much Ado About Keanu’s journey out of the Matrix and into the Real World.
Sezin is currently working on a mushroom horror novel that’s The Banshees of Inisherin meets The Last of Us and The Road meets Shaun of the Dead, as well as several poetry collections.
If you’re interested in booking Sezin for a panel, event, podcast, or other appearance please use the contact form below to get in touch.
Upcoming
Online Appearances
- KQED The Forum with host Mina Kim and special guests Sezin Devi Koehler, Angelica Jade Bastien, and Carly Severn.
- The Life of JEM Podcast: Writers on Writing with Sezin Devi Koehler.
- Ginosko Journal’s The Writing Life with Sezin Devi Koehler.
- A Piece of Pie: The Queer Film Podcast. Sezin chats with Brian about her theory that John Wick is trans, and how this connects to the world of The Matrix.
- The Occidental Magazine featured Oxy alum Sezin Devi Koehler’s Much Ado About Keanu summer reading list.
Past Events
February 22, 2026, 2-4pm, SPECS Bar, San Francisco: Stranger Than Fiction, also featuring Grant Faulkner, Cintra Wilson, Emma Binder, and Alan Black.
January 24, 2026, 5-7pm, Nomadic Books, Oakland: Reflections After a Book Tour, Sezin Devi Koehler in conversation with Ariel Gore.
Litcrawl with the Writers Grotto, October 25, 2025, where I read my short story about a novice Sri Lankan witch doing her first blood magic spell to bring back David Bowie.
October 16, 2025, 7-8:30pm, Mrs Dalloway’s Books, Berkeley, CA: Kitty Stryker’s LOVE REBELS In Store Event and Book Signing, featuring a conversation with Sezin Devi Koehler.
July 29, 2025, 6-730pm, Main Library, San Francisco (100 Larkin St): “Campfire Stories and Other Ghostly Narratives,” with Rowena Leong Singer and Beth Winegarner as we discuss creepy tales and Sezin reads her short story about a novice witch who uses blood magic to bring back David Bowie.
July 18, 2025, 10-11am, KQED Forum with Mina Kim: Sezin and special guests Angelica Jade Bastien and Carly Severn talk all things Keanu Reeves live on the radio, and answers audience calls. Revisit the show here!
July 6, 2025, 310-615, The Roxie Theater, San Francisco: A screening of Speed accompanied by an author talk with film professor Jonathan Kiefer.
June 20, 2025, 5-7pm, The Writers Grotto San Francisco: Reading & Meeting Pride Edition, featuring Dominic Lim, Jessica Martinez, Chino Lee Chung, June Martin, and Celeste Chan, MCd by Sezin.
June 11, 2025, 7-8pm, Clio’s Books, Oakland: Sezin in conversation with Olive Witch author Abeer Hoque.
June 9, 2025, 6-8pm, Green Apple Books Inner Sunset, San Francisco (1231 9th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122): The Writers Grotto 2025 Book Launch Party.
May 31, 2025, 7-830pm, Medicine for Nightmares (3036 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110): Much Ado About Keanu: A Drag Reading and Performance starring the Reverent Father Lysol Tony-Romeo, KaiKai Bee Michaels, and Beaux Bella BadAss.
May 31, 2025, 3-530pm, Park Branch Library (1833 Page St, San Francisco, CA 94117): Much Ado About Keanu: The Film Series. A showing of River’s Edge accompanied by a discussion by Sezin and an audience Q&A.
May 29, 530-745pm: Main Library, San Francisco (100 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA 94102): Much Ado About Keanu: The Film Series. A showing of A Scanner Darkly followed by a discussion and audience Q&A.
May 28th, 5-8pm, Glen Park Library (2825 Diamond St, San Francisco, CA 94131): Much Ado About Keanu: The Film Series. A showing of Bram Stoker’s Dracula accompanied by a discussion by Sezin and an audience Q&A.
May 21, 2025, 630-730pm, The Berkeley Public Library (2090 Kittredge St., Berkeley, California): Sezin reads from Much Ado About Keanu and answers audience questions.
May 14, 2025, 7-8pm, Book Society Berkeley (2945 College Ave, Berkeley, CA 94705): Sezin Devi Koehler in a David Bowie-themed conversation with Lauren Parker and a special appearance by Bowie drag queen Lysol Tony-Romeo.
- May 10, 2025, 1-5pm, Western Addition Library, San Francisco (1550 Scott St, San Francisco, CA 94115): Much Ado About Keanu: A Film Discussion Series. A showing of The Matrix followed by an author talk.
May 10, 2025: 6:30 – 8:30pm, Aloud/Out Loud @Telegraph Hill Books (1501 Grant Ave in North Beach, San Francisco): Sezin reads excerpts around the theme of joy from Much Ado About Keanu, alongside fellow Writers Grotto members Leslie Kirk Campbell, Janine Kovac, Swetha Amit, Dominic Lim, Lenore Weiss, and Anoop Judge.
May 7, 2025, 7-8pm, Books Inc, Alameda (1344 Park St, Alameda, CA 94501): Sezin Devi Koehler in conversation with Brad Balukjian about fandom and obsession.
The Much Ado About Keanu book lauch: April 29, 2025, 7-8pm, Green Apple Books, Inner Sunset, San Francisco (1231 9th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122). Sezin Devi Koehler in conversation with Shanthi Sekaran for Much Ado About Keanu‘s hardcover release into the world. Watch the event here!
Reading and Meeting at the San Francisco Writer’s Grotto, April 18, 2025, where Sezin presented her queer reading of John Wick for the first time. Also featuring Janine Kovac, Swetha Amit, and Khan Wong.
Blurbs/Reviews
“The films of Keanu Reeves and his wholly unique and wildly adored broader star persona provides Sezin Devi Koehler the perfect subject matter for this probing celebration of one of the greatest screen actors of our time and his enduring impact on our lives in very real, meaningful ways. More than mere fandom, Much Ado About Keanu is a rigorous, exciting and contagious masterclass in pop cultural engagement as praxis.”
—Alexandra Heller Nicholas, author of 1,000 Women in Horror, 1898-2018
“I can’t think of anyone better than Sezin Devi Koehler to write a book about Keanu Reeves. A queer mixed-race reading of John Wick? Yeah. An anti-Brechtian theory of Reeves? Dude. The monosyllable as expressive genius? Whoa. Even the way the book is structured (unironically) using the language of tarot is cosmic, and utterly Keanu. This dive into Keanu Reeves’ oeuvre and fandom is brainy, loving, and deeply fun. There’s something for everyone, from film nerds to literary witches to the occasional hater. It’ll be the most excellent book on your coffee table.”
—Abeer Hoque, author of Olive Witch
“Much Ado About Keanu is a deep-dive into everyone’s favorite celebrity. It’s also deeply intellectual, brilliant and so much fun to read. Sezin Devi’s meticulous work here is to be lauded.”
—Nayomi Munaweera, author of Island of a Thousand Mirrors and What Lies Between Us
“How do you deconstruct a vibe? Sezin Devi Koehler does just that with this clever and wonderfully readable take on one of our most beloved artists. What makes Keanu so cool and transcendent, so enigmatic and important? Sezin reveals all with wit and sophisticated analysis. A fine gift for any Keanu lover, which lets face it, is everyone.”
—Holly Sorenson, creator/writer of Step Up: High Water
“In this fascinating volume, penned with deep affection and rigorous scholarly research, Sezin Devi Koehler casts a glowing light on the much adored but widely underestimated actor. As a mixed-raced reader, aware of Keanu Reeve’s own multiracial background, I deeply appreciated Koehler’s refreshing analysis of how Reeve’s work — often whitewashed, the depth overlooked — blasts through stereotypes, challenging both racial and gender norms. Koehler’s love for her subject shines through with every sentence. Her fluid, insightful writing makes you feel like you’re having a delicious up-all-night chat with a brilliant friend. By the time you’re finished reading this book, you’ll want to rewatch all of Reeves’s films. You will never see them the same way again.”
—Lisa Williamson Rosenberg, L.C.S.W., psychotherapist and author of Embers on the Wind and Mirror Me
“I didn’t know I needed this much Keanu Reeves in my life–I’m just glad Sezin Devi Koehler did. With sensitivity and humor, Koehler parses the threads of the Reeves persona and braids together a more complex understanding of the multi-faceted, seemingly ubiquitous cultural icon. The book’s fast-paced, engaging prose leaps deftly from the macro–Reeves’ wide-reaching mainstream influence–to the intimate, often overlooked nuances of his Asian identity. Much Ado About Keanu awakens and delights.”
—Shanthi Sekaran, New Amsterdam writer and author of Boomi’s Boombox, The Samosa Rebellion, and Lucky Boy
“The book is written in Koehler’s personal style yet finds strength in its consistent application of unwavering critical theory. Not everything Keanu Reeves has done is met with overwhelming enthusiasm; a good amount of choices he has made is met with a sobering commentary, reminding us of biases that in good faith may be unconscious. This ranges from his known habit of smoking to the prominent usage of gun violence in nearly all of Reeves’s action output.”
—Anya Couture, Ginger Nuts of Horror
“VERDICT Koehler is passionate and persuasive, but this scholarly work will probably appeal primarily to diehard Reeves fans and film students.”
—Denise Miller, Library Journal
