Roz Chast grew up in Brooklyn, NY and received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design with studies in graphic design and painting, though she soon after returned to her love of cartooning. Fewer than two years out of college, at age 24, The New Yorker magazine added her to their roster of approximately forty artists under contract, and the publication has published her work continuously ever since. Chast has also provided cartoons and editorial illustrations for nearly 50 magazines and journals from Mother Jones to Town & Country.
Chast lectures widely and has received numerous prestigious awards including honorary degrees from Pratt Institute and the Art Institute of Boston. In 2013, she was inducted as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2015, she was nominated for the Eisner Award and received the Reuben Award from the National Cartoon Society. She also received the Heinz Award for her body of work which brings “wry humor and wit to some of our most profound everyday anxieties, brilliantly translating the mundane into rich, comical observations… (It is) ”in her articulation of our unspoken fears and dilemmas, she offers empathy and courage to confront them head on.” In 2018 she was honored with the Visionary Woman Award from the Moore College of Art & Design. In 2019 she was inducted into the Society of Illustrator's Hall of Fame.
Roz Chast lives in Connecticut with her family and several parrots.