Joyce Carol Oates

Introduction

Born in 1938, author Joyce Carol Oates spent her formative years growing up on a farm in Lockport, New York. Although the Great Depression hit her family hard, she was always encouraged to write. When she was fourteen, Oates was given a typewriter by her grandmother; from that day on, Oates has been writing novels. Her themes generally revolve around the nature and effects of violence and the simultaneously strong but fragile human psyche, particularly as it pertains to women’s lives. Her novels Black Water (1992) and What I Lived For (1994) were both nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in literature. Her short stories have appeared in almost every issue of Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards for the last forty years.

Essential Facts

1. Oates’ won Mademoiselle’s short story contest when she was just 19.
2. Joyce Carol Oates is Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton. In 1996, she received the PEN/Malmud Award for a “lifetime of literary achievement.”
3. Of the literary life, Oates has said: “The field of writing is filled with tension. Any kind of artistic activity is. It’s not, I think, psychologically healthy in some ways. It’s very agitating and turbulent...And I find that it’s fraught with anxiety much of the time.”
4. Not all critics are fans of the author’s work. One frequent criticism is that she writes far too much to be serious enough about what she produces. To date, Oates has published 37 novels, 23 volumes of short stories, and 4 volumes of plays.
5. We Were the Mulvaneys (1996) was an Oprah Book Club selection in 2001, bringing the critically acclaimed and already popular author to an even wider audience.