Award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most controversial and enduring writers alive today. With over 30 novels, 23 volumes of short stories, 7 volumes of poetry and 4 volumes of plays to her name, Oates has made her mark. Her most distinguished work includes Pulitzer Prize nominee Black Water, based on the Kennedy-Chappaquiddick scandal, and bestseller and National Book Award finalist Blonde, featuring the epic of American icon Marilyn Monroe. In addition, she is the Roger S. Berlind Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University and the winner of the PEN/Malamud Award for "A Lifetime of Literary Achievement." Oates was born in 1938 during the time of the Great Depression and grew up in rural upstate New York where she attended a one-room schoolhouse as a child and later earned a scholarship to attend Syracuse University--where she graduated as valedictorian.
Oates is coming to Duke tomorrow as part of the Blackburn Literary Festival. An informal reception is being held at 3 p.m. in the English Department Graduate Student Lounge, followed by a reading in the Rare Books Room at 7:30 p.m. A panel discussion featuring Ms. Oates on "The Legacy of Chekhov" will take place in the Old Trinity Room in the West Union Saturday at 1 p.m.
Recess: When did you realize you first wanted to write?
JCO: I've been writing all of my life, since I was a child.
You grew up in the aftermath of the Great Depression. What influence do you think your background, family and early environment had on your writing?
I usually write about women, children and the aftermath of some violence and how those characters adjust. My novel, We Were the Mulvaneyes, was about that. The family suffers a crisis, a domestic tragedy, but then they recover over a period of years. I don't write about violence, but about the aftermath and how people cope with it, especially women and children. I write about those topics because I live in America, and those are subjects that are all around me. Our country is a very troubled country. There has always been violence, since the time the early settlers pushed westwards and slaughtered Indians along the way. The history of America has been a very violent history. I mean, I live in cities like Detroit, Michigan....of some violence and how those characters adjust. My novel, We Were the Mulvaneys, was about that. The family suffers a crisis, a domestic tragedy, but then they recover over a period of years. I don't write about violence, but about the aftermath and how people cope with it, especially women and children. I write about those topics because I live in America, and those are subjects that are all around me. Our country is a very troubled country. There has always been violence, since the time the early settlers pushed westwards and slaughtered Indians along the way. The history of America has been a very violent history. I mean, I live in cities like Detroit, Michigan..
That is actually where I am from-the suburbs of Detroit.
Then you know a little bit about what I am talking about. I was in Detroit a long time ago, in the 1960s, at the time of the Detroit riot, and so it was a different experience. I am an American writer. American male writers always write about society. I am writing about society just like anybody else, except I am a woman.
In many of your novels, you explore the darker side of the human psyche and write from the perspective of characters such as serial killers and sexual predators. Was it difficult for you to imagine the voice of those personas? What do you do to prepare for those novels?
Not all of my novels are about that. But when they are. well I think we can all meditate upon personalities just from our own and give voice to those motives and instincts. It's a quality that playwrights have. I do write plays too, and when you write plays, everyone is speaking in their own voice. I think it's the same kind of instinct.
Many of your books have involved teenagers, particularly teenagers in high school. How do you make those characters so real?
I have 3 young adult novels, one is called Big Mouth & Ugly Girl, and another is called Freaky Green Eyes. Yes, I do have a very special interest in adolescent life. I remember that time in my own life because it was very intense. Some of the most emotional things happened everyday in high school, and it was a very dramatic time. I teach older adolescents at Princeton, and they are very lively and inquisitive. I think adolescence is the time when young people are questioning the values of adults. Sometimes they are pretty skeptical, and they see through adult hypocrisy. When they grow up, most people have less of an edge, and they are not really questioning things anymore because they become part of it. I draw upon experiences from observation. I have memories of those times, and I had many friends. I write about things that happened to my friends too.
You have a talent for seeing the amusing side of the traumatic moments in life in your novels. Is this based solely on observation, or were you inspired by experiences in your own life?
It's a mixture. I am inspired by both my own personal experiences and by things I observe. The greatest challenge of writing is organizing material-putting things into paragraphs and pages. Everyone has stories to tell, everyone has families, they tell their best friends stories all the time, but it's how they organize the material and select the details that matters. The real challenge of writing is technical. Having material is only 50% of being a writer; you also have to have the style.
Among your many books is a children's book called Meet Muffin. What inspired you to write a book that is so different from your previous work?
I wrote the book because I had a cat named Muffin. Also, the little girl in the book is a real girl-she is the daughter of a friend of ours. It's pretty close to home. I have a new children's book coming out called Where is Little Reynard?, targeted towards the same audience as the previous one.
How do you think your writing style has changed throughout your life?
It has become more complex and experimental, and I'm more interested in drama. I write plays now, and when I started out writing, I just wrote short stories and novels. For example, I organized the novella Rape: A Love Story into very short chapters. I wanted the reader to feel how immediate the events were and how fast everything happened.
Can you tell us more about your upcoming visit to Duke? What are your impressions of it?
I'm going be reading a lot of new material I am working on. I may have some poetry, some prose and some essays. I've been to Duke several times. Duke has the most beautiful campus, as well as wonderful faculty and students. I have had wonderful interaction with the students.
Thank you very much.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.