Joyce Carol Oates Birth:
Joyce Carol Oates was born in Lockport, New York on June 16, 1938.
Joyce Carol Oates Background and Writing:
Joyce Carol Oates grew up in a rural community in upstate New York, on her parents' farm. She became interested in writing at a young age. When she was 14, her grandmother gave her her first typewriter which she wore out, "writing novel after novel and always throwing them out when I completed them."
Oates wrote for her high school newspaper and was the first in her family to complete high school. She attended Syracuse University, from which she graduated as valedictorian of her class in 1960. At 19, she won a college short story contest sponsored by Mademoiiselle magazine.
Oates wrote for her high school newspaper and was the first in her family to complete high school. She attended Syracuse University, from which she graduated as valedictorian of her class in 1960. At 19, she won a college short story contest sponsored by Mademoiiselle magazine.
Oates met Raymond Smith, her future husband, while studying for her Master's degree at the University of Wisconsin, which she received in 1961. She taught at the University of Detroit and nearby at The University of Windsor (Windsor, Canada).
Oates published With Shuddering Fall, her first novel, in 1964, at the age of 26 and has averaged a novel every two years thereafter. Her fourth, Them (1969), which explores the world of drugs and racial conflict in inner city Detroit, received the National Book Award. Them was the final in a trilogy in which Oates examined three different aspects of American society. The first two were A Garden of Earthly Delights (1967), about a migrant worker who marries a farmer in order to provide for her illegitimate son, and Expensive People (1967), which was about the emptiness of a suburban life of material consumption.
To say that violence is a common aspect in Oates' work would be to greatly generalize a career that has spawned more than fifty novels, though it is a theme that has run through her writing from the early days on up through the present. In addition to novels, Oates has published more than 20 short story collections (hundreds of individual piecees), volumes of poetry, a handful of novellas, collections of essays, plays, children's books, and more. There is no doubt that she is one of the most prolific writers alive today, so where does a reader start?
When asked by the Washington Post what work she'd most like to a reader to turn to, Oates replied, "What a question! It's a tossup between Blonde (her 2000 novel based on the life of Marilyn Monroe) and Them for both questions. I could as easily have chosen a number of titles. It's as difficult for a writer to make choices among her books as it would be for a mother to choose among her children."
Oates' husband, Raymond Smith, died of complications from pneumonia in 2008. She reflects on her relationship with her husband, his death, and the aftermath in her 2011 memoir, A Widow's Story.
Oates' husband, Raymond Smith, died of complications from pneumonia in 2008. She reflects on her relationship with her husband, his death, and the aftermath in her 2011 memoir, A Widow's Story.
Recent Work:
- Give Me Your Heart: Tales of Mystery and Suspense (2011)
- A Widow's Story (2011)
