Marie Mockett

Marie Mockett was born and raised in California to a Japanese mother and American father, and graduated from Columbia University with a degree in East Asian Languages and Civilizations. Her memoir, “Where the Dead Pause and the Japanese Say Goodbye,” was a New York Times Editors Choice, a Barnes and Noble Discover Pick, an Indie Next Pick, a finalist for the 2016 Pen Open Book Award, a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of 2015, and a finalist for the Indies Choice Best Book for Adult Nonfiction for 2016. Her first novel, “Picking Bones from Ash,” was shortlisted for the Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and a finalist for the Paterson Prize. Her forthcoming book, “American Harvest,” is set in seven agricultural and heartland states, and will be published by Graywolf Press on April 7, 2020. “American Harvest” was a finalist for the Lukas Prize for Nonfiction. For the 2019-2020 academic year, she is a Visiting Writer in the MFA program Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California. She lives in San Francisco.