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Cynthia Ozick

シンシア・オジック

Shinshia Ojikku

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1928-04-17 （New York City, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
Bronx, New York City, U.S. → New Rochelle, New York, U.S.

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Short story writer, Essayist
Active Years
1966-
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Letters
Influenced By
Henry James, Isaac Babel
Nominations
2005 Man Booker International Prize — shortlist, 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction — shortlist (Foreign Bodies), 2013 Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize — shortlist (Foreign Bodies)

Education

Hunter College High School
Country: United States
New York University
English literature
Degree: BA
Country: United States
Ohio State University
English literature
Degree: MA
Country: United States
MA focusing on the novels of Henry James

Awards

Edward Lewis Wallant Award
1971
Work: The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories
Organization: Edward Lewis Wallant Award
Result: 受賞
National Jewish Book Award
1971
Work: The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories
Organization: Jewish Book Council
Result: 受賞
National Jewish Book Award (Fiction)
1977
Work: Bloodshed and Three Novellas
Category: フィクション
Organization: Jewish Book Council
Result: 受賞
Rea Award for the Short Story
1986
Organization: Rea Award
Result: 第1回受賞者
Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay
1997
Work: Fame & Folly
Organization: Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award
Result: 受賞
National Book Critics Circle Award
2000
Work: Quarrel & Quandary
Organization: National Book Critics Circle
Result: 受賞
PEN/Nabokov Award
2008
Organization: PEN America
Result: 受賞
PEN/Malamud Award
2008
Organization: PEN/Malamud Award
Result: 受賞
O. Henry Award
Organization: O. Henry Awards
Result: 短編で複数回1位入賞（4編）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Trust

1966 Novel

An early novel by Ozick. Detailed summary not provided due to limited data.

individual and moralityidentity

The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories

1971 Short story collection

A collection of short stories focusing on Jewish community and identity. Winner of the Edward Lewis Wallant Award and the National Jewish Book Award.

Jewish identitymemory of immigration

The Shawl

1989 Short story collection (and title short story)

A collection including stories that deal with the Holocaust and trauma, featuring the notable title story "The Shawl."

the Holocausttrauma and memory

The Puttermesser Papers

1997 Novel

A novel mixing humor and allegory, portraying human and societal themes through characters including the title figure Puttermesser.

humorsocial allegorygender

Heir to the Glimmering World

2004 Novel

A story about family history and identity. Published in the UK as The Bear Boy.

family historyidentity

Foreign Bodies

2010 Novel

A novel that engages dialogically with Henry James, showing Jamesian themes and narrative experimentation.

response to Henry Jamesliterary inheritance

Antiquities

2021 Short story collection

A late collection of short stories containing new and recent pieces.

memorypast and present

Bibliography

  • Trust (1966)
  • The Pagan Rabbi and Other Stories (1971)
  • Bloodshed and Three Novellas (1976)
  • Levitation: Five Fictions (1982)
  • The Shawl (1989)
  • The Puttermesser Papers (1997)
  • Quarrel & Quandary (2000)
  • Heir to the Glimmering World (2004)
  • Foreign Bodies (2010)
  • Antiquities and Other Stories (2022)

Translations by Author

  • Introduction to The Complete Works of Isaac Babel (contribution/translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
elegant, highly stylized proseJamesian influencecritical and polemical essays
Recurring Motifs
Jewish identity and memorythe Holocaust and its aftermathimmigration and class mobilityresponses to literary history

Legacy

Cynthia Ozick is a major voice in Jewish American literature, highly regarded for her refined prose and sustained engagement with Henry James. She has received numerous literary prizes and is respected by critics and fellow writers.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters

Archives

  • Yale University Archives

In Popular Culture

  • Appeared briefly in the documentary film Town Bloody Hall

Quotes

  • Writing is not a choice but a kind of hallucinatory madness. You will do it no matter what. You can't not do it.
    Source: Interview / biographical source
  • In "Who Owns Anne Frank?" she wrote that the diary's true meaning has been distorted by blurb and stage, by shrewdness and naiveté, by cowardice and spirituality, by forgiveness and indifference.
    Source: The New Yorker (1997) (1997)

Trivia

  • Famous for a humorous question directed at Norman Mailer at a 1960s event (appears in Town Bloody Hall).
  • Has won first prize in the O. Henry competition multiple times (four stories).