Always Take Notes Podcast

Rachel and Simon speak with the novelist Ruth Ozeki. In the 1980s Ruth worked in film, first as an art director and production designer for low-budget horror films, then as a writer, producer and director of independent films. "Halving the Bones" (1995), a documentary about her family history and the process of bringing her grandmother's remains from Japan, was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Her first novel, "My Year of Meats", was published in 1998 and "All Over Creation" followed in 2003. In 2010 Ruth was ordained as a Soto Zen Buddhist priest. "A Tale for the Time Being", published in 2013, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and has been published in more than 30 countries. We spoke to Ruth about her childhood interest in writing, the mutually reinforcing practises of novel-writing and Zen Buddhism, and her new novel, "The Book of Form and Emptiness", recently shortlisted for the Women's Prize.

May 3, 2022
Always Take Notes Podcast
Always Take Notes, Episode #133: Ruth Ozeki, novelist

iNews Interview (UK): Ruth Ozeki on The Book of Form and Emptiness

“I have all sorts of fancy ideas about why I can’t maintain omniscience. I don’t believe in a monolithic, all-seeing god. I’m mixed-race. I perceive everything as being fractured or multiplicitous; maybe that’s why I see everything from multiple points of view.”
— Ruth Ozeki

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Ruth Ozeki is a filmmaker, novelist, and Zen Buddhist priest, whose novels have been described as “witty, intelligent and passionate” by The Independent, and as possessing “shrewd and playful humor, luscious sexiness and kinetic pizzazz” by the Chicago Tribune. Ozeki is the author of several award-winning novels: My Year of Meats (1998), All Over Creation (2003), and A Tale for the Time Being (2013), which was a New York Times bestseller and shortlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize. 

In this podcast, we discuss her most recent novel The Book of Form and Emptiness (2021) and how her writing and life have been influenced by Zen Buddhism. At the heart of the book is the poignant story of Benny Oh, an adolescent boy who begins to hear voices after the tragic death of his father, and his mother Annabelle, who struggles to stay afloat amid an ocean of grief. This novel is a brilliant, heartfelt story that addresses many challenges facing modern society, including consumerism, climate change, mental illness, hoarding, and homelessness.