Ruth Ozeki Lounsbury is an award-winning novelist and filmmaker, whose work has garnered international critical acclaim for its ability to integrate issues of science, technology, environment, politics and global popular culture into unique hybrid narrative forms. She has lectured at universities and colleges around the world and worked in commercial television and media production for over a decade.

NOVELS

2003 | 2004

All Over Creation – Viking, Penguin

The story of a Japanese-American prodigal daughter who returns to her family’s potato farm to confront her own past and the future of farming in America. Awards: American Book Award, Before Columbus Foundation; Willa Literary Award for Contemporary Fiction. A New York Times Notable Book. Translated into three languages and published in six countries.

1998 | 1999

My Year of Meats – Viking, Penguin

The story of a Japanese-American documentary filmmaker and a Japanese housewife, whose lives are connected by a TV cooking show. Awards: Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize; Imus/Barnes & Noble American Book Award; World Cookbook Association Special Jury Prize. A New York Times Notable Book. Translated into eleven languages and published in fourteen countries.

ANTHOLOGIZED FICTION

2006

“The Anthropologist’s Kids,” in Mixed, ed. Chandra Prassad. Due out in Fall, 2006, from W.W. Norton

2006

“Dead Bead Poet,” in Faulkner is Fired, ed. Meredith Arthur. Due out in Spring, 2006, from Harcourt

2005

“My Year of Meats” (excerpt) in The Moral of the Story, ed. Peter Singer and Renata Singer, Blackwell Publishing

2003

“Ships In The Night,” in Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home In The World, ed. Jessica Chan, Penguin

ESSAYS | RADIO | JOURNALISM

1998 – 2004

New York Times Op Ed; CBC Radio One; Shambhala Sun Magazine; Elle Magazine; The Independent; Bitch Magazine

1994

An independent feature length documentary that tells the story of the half-Japanese filmmaker who inherits a can of her deceased grandmother’s bones. Awards: International Documentary Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award; Kodak Award for Creative Use of Cinematography; San Francisco International Film Festival Certificate of Merit.  Selected Screenings: Sundance Film Festival Documentary Competition,  Montreal World Film Festival, Margaret Mead Festival, San Francisco Asian American Film Festival

1994

A one hour independent television drama that tells the story of an obsessed archivist and the two women whose letters he curates. Awards: San Francisco Film & Video Festival, New Visions. A presentation of the Independent Television Service and Corporation for Public Broadcasting, for PBS.

1993

Native American Jewelry - Director/Writer

A thirty minute high definition television documentary about Navaho and Pueblo jewelry. Written and directed for NHK Japanese Public Television.

1993

NHK Satellite Museum: New York Arts - Producer/Director

A thirty minute documentary about the Guggenheim Museum and the arts in Soho. Produced and directed for NHK Japanese Public Television.

1992

NHK Satellite Museum: Community TV - Producer/Director

A thirty minute documentary about community access and Deep Dish TV. Produced and directed for NHK Japanese Public Television.

1990 – 1995

See the World by Train - Producer/Director/Writer

Over one hundred short documentaries about train travel in the United States and Canada. Produced and directed for TV Asahi, Japan.

1990 – 1992

Message - Producer/Director

A series of short documentary-style portraits of unique American youth. Produced and directed for Fuji TV Network, Japan.

1990 – 1992

American Lifestyle News - Producer/Director

A thirty minute weekly documentary series focusing on women’s lives in rural America. Produced and directed for Fuji TV Network, Japan.

1990

Fishing with John - Producer

A thirty minute television farce, starring actor and musician, John Lurie, as host, and featuring film director, Jim Jarmusch. Produced for Telecom Japan International.

1988 – 1990

The New Yorker - Producer/Director/Writer

A thirty minute weekly documentary series about New York arts and culture. Produced and directed for Fuji TV Network, Japan.

1986 – 1988

Medusa Studio, Inc. - Co-Founder, Designer

A production design, art direction, and props construction company for film, television and theater. Clients included: Saturday Night Live; Empire Films; Financial News Network; Theater for the New City. Films included: Love You To Death; Robot Holocaust; Necropolis; Breeders; Mutant Hunt; Operation X; Heart.

2005

Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Katzenstein
Artist-in-Residence
University of British Columbia – Consuming Women Conference
University of Mary Washington
Key West Literary Seminar

2004

Mount Holyoke College

Western Kentucky State University

Asian American Writers Workshop

American Museum of Natural History Center for Biodiversity and Conservation

New York State Writers Institute
Society for Literature and Science Conference – AgriCultural Studies

2003

Penn State University – Science, Medicine & Technology in Culture Program

University of Maryland

YWCA Writers Festival, Berkeley

Vancouver Writers Festival

Bumbershoot/Seattle Arts Festival

University of Kentucky Women Writers Festival
Hudson Valley Writers Festival

2002

University of Florida, Gainsville
Otterbein College – Common Book Author
Bryn Mahr

2001

Harvard University - Reischauer Institute

Tufts University – Association for Japanese Literature Studies Conference

Wellesley College

Wesleyan College

Long Beach Writers Festival, Los Angeles

University of Wisconsin, Madison

2000

Smith College – Common Book Author

1999

University of Missouri
San Francisco Public Library

1998

Summerstage, Central Park, New York
University of Turin
Japanese-American Museum, Los Angeles
Sidney Writers Festival
Melbourne Writers Festival
Brisbane Writers Festival

1997

Museum of Modern Art, New York
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
University of South Carolina

1996

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
California Art Institute
University of California, Santa Barbara
Sundance Film Festival
Margaret Mead Film Festival
Montreal World Film Festival
Atlanta Film Festival
Seattle Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival
Melbourne Film Festival
San Francisco Asian American Film Festival
New York Asian American Film Festival

1995

Hawaii International Film Festival

1994

San Francisco International Film Festival

2005

Katzenstein Artist-in-Resident Fellowship - Massachusetts Institute of Technology

1997

National Endowment for the Arts Tri-national Artists Residency Fellowship

1996

NYSCA  Distribution Grant

1995

Banff Centre for the Arts Residency

1993

Women’s Project Fund Film Grant

1993

Independent Television Service Funding

1992

Jerome Foundation Film Grant

1992

Palinville Interarts Residency

1992

Virginia Center for the Arts Residency

1992

Banff Centre for the Arts Residency

1980

Japanese Ministry of Education Graduate Research Fellowship

Nara University, Nara, Japan

Recipient of the Mombusho Graduate Research Fellowship. Masters level post-graduate research in classical Japanese literature, with a concentration on both textual analysis and performance of Noh drama of the 14^th century. 1980 - 1982

Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts 

B.A. double major in English Literature and Asian Studies, with concentrations in Shakespearean drama and modern and classical Japanese Literature. Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa. 1980 

Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan 

A year-long intensive program with a focus on Japanese language, literature and culture. 1976

Assistant Professor - English Language and Literature.  1982-1985

Kyoto Sangyo University, Kyoto, Japan. Developed innovative curricula for large (70+ student) ESL classes, designed to overcome difficulties with oral comprehension and performance, particular to Japanese students. Also taught classes in American literature and culture.

Instructor - English Language and Literature. 1983

Kyoto Gaikoku Daigaku, Kyoto, Japan. Taught classes in ESL, reading and composition.

Co-founder, President

SpeakEasy English Language Lab, Kyoto, Japan.  1982-1985

An experimental school for English language instruction, whose purpose was to develop and test an original and interactive curriculum based on games and theater. Publications include “Hearing Aid,” an interactive book and cassette tape program.

• Women Make Movies – Vice President, Board of Directors. Women Make Movies is the largest distributor of films by and about women.

• Fluent spoken Japanese

• U.S. Citizen