Joyce Carol Oates (Cyclopedia of World Authors)

While still in her twenties, Joyce Carol Oates was recognized as an important writer. After decades of consistent publication, her place in the first rank of contemporary American authors is assured. Born on June 16, 1938, in Lockport, New York, Oates was reared in a rural, Catholic, working-class family. Her father, Frederick, was a tool-and-die designer who quit school in the seventh grade to go to work. Her mother, the former Caroline Bush, was a housewife. Oates attended a one-room elementary school, the junior high in Lockport, and a high school outside Buffalo. She has used few of...

[The entire page is 1542 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass