Ciment was born to a
Russian Jewish family in
Montreal,
Quebec, Canada. When she was 10, she and her family immigrated to the
United States, settling in
Los Angeles, California. She studied art at the
California Institute of Arts (CalArts), under
John Baldessari. She earned her BFA from CalArts in 1975. She received her MFA in creative writing from the
University of California, Irvine in 1981. Ciment is an emeritus professor of English at the
University of Florida in
Gainesville, Florida. Her novel,
Heroic Measures, was one of titles chosen by
Oprah Winfrey's Book Club for 2009 summer reading. The book was also one of the top five finalists for the
Los Angeles Times Book Award for 2010.
5 Flights Up, a film adaptation of
Heroic Measures starring
Morgan Freeman and
Diane Keaton, was released in the U.S. on May 8, 2015. In 1969, she began an affair with her art teacher,
Arnold Mesches, when she was 17 and in his class. He was 47, and married with two children. They moved in together the following year, married, and were together until his death in 2016. Her memoir,
Half a Life, reflected on their relationship together and was published in 1996. Following Arnold's death and in context of the
Me Too movement, she re-examined their almost 50 year relationship with a new memoir,
Consent. ==Grants and literary awards==