I Was Not Sexual in the Zendo: A Novel

Claire Donato

School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Writing
Seed Grantee 2019-2020

I Was Not Sexual in the Zendo: A Novel is a meditation on Zen renunciation told through the perspective of a 33-year old adjunct professor living in a Buddhist monastery. Blending elements of poetry, narrative, philosophy, and art writing, the novel grapples with themes of attachment, desire, interdependence, refuge, renunciation, suffering, and how to wake up and practice one’s life. A residency at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mount Tremper, NY, informed primary research and an immersion in Zen practice.