Cynthia Ozick (1928-)

Born in 1928, Cynthia Ozick grew up in the Bronx. She received her B. A. in English from New York University in 1949 and her M. A., also in English, from Ohio State University in 1950. She wrote her master's thesis on Henry James who, she said, had a great influence on her career as a writer. From 1952 to 1953, she lived in Boston where she worked in advertising as a copywriter. In 1964 and 1965, she taught at New York University and from 1981 to 1982, she was the artist-in-residence at City College in New York. She always wanted to be a writer and turned out poems, stories, and essays throughout her childhood. As a freshman at New York University, she began to develop a more mature style and received encouragement from her professors who recognized her talent. She now lives in Westchester County, New York, and she has written novels, short stories, essays, literary criticism, and translations.

Ozick has been the recipient of many literary awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Mildred and Harold Straus Living Award from the American Academy and National Institute of Arts and Letters.

While Ozick eschews the designation "woman writer," she defines herself as a "Jewish writer." She believes that it is her purpose to analyze the world from the perspective of a Jewish American. In an interview with Katie Bolick of Atlantic Unbound, Ozick stated that "`Jewish' is a category of civilization, culture, and intellect, and `woman' is a category of anatomy and physiology. It's rough thinking to confuse vast cultural and intellectual movements with the capacity to bear children."

Related Links

The Many Faces of Cynthia Ozick

Jewish American Literature Research Homepage

National Book Foundation: A Conversation with Cynthia Ozick

Cynthia Ozick in Conversation

Creative Quotations from Cynthia Ozick

The Complete Review

The New Criterion Online

Cynthia Ozick (1928 - )