Ethan Nichtern and Ruth Ozeki discuss her new novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness, the similarities between writing and meditation, and how to perceive the voices of the object world. Ruth Ozeki is a novelist, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest. She is the award-winning author of four novels, The Book of Form and Emptiness, My Year of Meats, All Over Creation, and A Tale for the Time Being, which was a finalist for the 2013 Booker Prize. Her nonfiction work includes a memoir, The Face: A Time Code, and the documentary film, Halving the Bones, which was screened at Sundance and on public television. Ruth is affiliated with the Brooklyn Zen Center and the Everyday Zen Foun­dation. She teaches creative writing at Smith College, where she is the Grace Jarcho Ross 1933 Professor of Humanities. Learn more about her at ruthozeki.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.