Ruth Ozeki

Ruth Ozeki is an author, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest. After graduating from Smith College with degrees in English and Asian studies, Ozeki pursued graduate work at Nara University in Japan. Afterward, she returned to America and began working in TV and films, first as a production set designer and then as a documentary filmmaker for Japanese TV. She eventually made two of her own films, which were highly acclaimed and shown at several film festivals. Ozeki’s first novel, My Year of Meats, was published in 1998 and was awarded the Kiriyama Prize as well as the Imus American Book Award. A Tale for the Time Being, which was published in 2013, is Ozeki’s most recent work of fiction. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Ozeki published her first work of nonfiction in 2016, called The Face: A Time Code, in which she traces every thought she has for three hours while looking at her face in the mirror. This book is a meditation on the passage of time and of being aware of each moment, which are themes Ozeki also brings up in A Tale for the Time Being. Ozeki teaches creative writing at Smith College.