SparkZen Podcast with Rev. Shoren Heather

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. 

Novel Dialogue Podcast with Rebecca Evans and Emily Hyde

Ruth Ozeki, whose most recent novel is The Book of Form and Emptiness, speaks with critic Rebecca Evans and guest host Emily Hyde. This is a conversation about talking books, the randomness and serendipity of library shelves, and what novelists can learn in the editing room of a movie like Mutant Hunt. Ozeki is an ordained Zen Buddhist priest, and her novels unfold as warm-hearted parables that have been stuffed full of the messiness of contemporary life. The Book of Form and Emptinesstelescopes from global supply chains to the aisles of a Michaels craft store and from a pediatric psychiatry ward to the enchanted stacks of the public library. The exigencies of environmental storytelling arch over this conversation. Evans asks Ozeki questions of craft (how to move a story through time, how to bring it to an end) that become questions of practice (how to listen to the objects stories tell, how to declutter your sock drawer). And we learn Ozeki’s theory of closure: her novels always pull together at the end so that readers are free to continue pondering the questions they raise.

March 3, 2022
Novel Dialogue Podcast | New Books Network
In the Editing Room with Ruth Ozeki and Rebecca Evans

Book Shambles with Robin Ince

Man Booker Prize shortlisted novelist Ruth Ozeki joins us this week to talk about her latest novel The Book of Form and Emptiness which is out now. They chat about how the book took eight years to write, growing up learning to love books in a public library basement, listening to the voices that guide a novel and her past life working as an art director on low budget horror movies!

February 10, 2022
Book Shambles | The Cosmic Shambles Network
Book Shambles - Ruth Ozeki