Women, Power and All that Goes With It: Ruth Ozeki Speaks at SPSCC

ruth ozeki
Friday will mark Ruth Ozeki's first visit to the SPSCC campus. Photo credit: Kris Krug
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ruth ozeki
Author Ruth Ozeki will be reading from her newest book on Thursday, October 9 at South Puget Sound Community College. Photo credit: Kris Krug

This year’s South Puget Sound Community College Artist and Lecture Series takes on the daunting task of highlighting the role and power of women.  While gender can be a political, economic, and emotional minefield, lead-off speaker Ruth Ozeki begins the dialogue through a reading from her newest book ‘A Tale for the Time Being.’

Like all women, Ms. Ozeki is multi-faceted, creative, and passionate.  At once a novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest, she divides her time between the bustle of Manhattan and the serenity of British Columbia.  This latest offering is set in familiar geography and “tells the story of a mysterious diary, which washes up on a beach on the Pacific Northwest coast of Canada in the wake of the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. The diary, written by a troubled schoolgirl in Tokyo, is discovered by a novelist named Ruth, who becomes obsessed with discovering the fate of the girl.”

She’ll be reading, speaking, and signing on Thursday, October 9 at 7:30 p.m., at the Kenneth J. Minnaert Center Main Stage and later on November 20 at the Seattle Town Hall Arts and Lecture Series.  Her local visit promises to be a treat as she “loves speaking to students, it’s my favorite thing to do!  I was an avid reader and writer in college; it was such an alive time in my life.”

Dean of College Relations Kellie Braseth explains that “our overall, three-year, umbrella theme is ‘Reflections.’  Last year, we reflected on issues of diversity, particularly since last year was framed by two monumental historical moments in the Civil Rights movement: the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington in August and the 60th Anniversary of the Brown v Board of Education decision in May. This year, we focus on the experience and power of women…Ruth Ozeki is up for that.”  While this is Ms. Ozeki’s first visit to the campus, “We’re thrilled to have her launch this year’s series.”

The evening coincides with what Braseth explains is a “Campus-Community Read program using Ms. Ozeki’s ‘Tale for the Time Being.’  It’s been well received.” SPSCC hopes the interest in the Read program translates into strong ticket sales.

ruth ozeki
Thursday will mark Ruth Ozeki’s first visit to the SPSCC campus. Photo credit: Kris Krug

Described as “full of Ozeki’s signature humor and deeply engaged with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and fiction, quantum physics, history, and myth, ‘A Tale for the Time Being’ is a brilliantly inventive, beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.”  Said Ozeki, “I realize that the book has some very powerful women characters.  Not only are they powerful, some of them have super powers!”  She echoes that the lecture series is “a theme that resonates strongly in this book.”

New England writer Buffy Andrews states that “writers see the world differently.  Every voice we hear, every face we see, every hand we touch could become story fabric.”  With books published in more than 30 countries and 11 languages, Ruth Ozeki is a skilled weaver of such story fabric.  Don’t miss the chance to hear her read in person.

Tickets are available online and SPSCC students and staff may attend for free.

 

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