Acclaimed writer Joyce Carol Oates, author of more than
fifty novels as well as dozens of short story collections, books for children
and young adults, essays and poetry collections, will read from her work at
7p.m., on Monday, April 21, 2014, at the Fayetteville Town Center. The event,
part of the University of Arkansas Programs in Creative Writing and Translation
Distinguished Readers Series, is free and open to the public.
“Ms. Oates is among the most admired and accomplished
writers of our time,” said Todd Shields, interim dean of the J. William
Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. “We are honored to host such a
distinguished artist and to share her knowledge and work with our community.”
Since 1963, forty of Oates’ books have been included in
the New York Times list of notable books
of the year. Her novel, Them, won
the National Book Award in 1970. Other honors include two O. Henry Prizes, the
PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in Short Fiction, and the M. L. Rosenthal
Award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In 2009, Oates was given
the Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Book Critics Circle
and the next year was awarded the National Humanities Medal for her
contributions to American letters.
Oates currently serves as the Roger S. Berlind
Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, where she
has taught since 1978.
Born in Lockport, New York, Oates began writing as a
teenager after her grandmother presented her with a typewriter. At the age of
19, she won the Mademoiselle college
fiction contest. Throughout high school and college, she followed a strict
regimen of writing, drafting novel after novel.
Since then, her career has been marked by
productivity—publishing books at the rate of roughly two a year—as well as
eclecticism. Her oeuvre contains essays, plays, anthologies, literary
criticism, children’s books and poetry in addition to fiction, encompassing
countless genres, styles, voices, topics, and modes of creative expression.
“The scope and variety of her works crashes through
literary boundaries,” said Davis McCombs, director of the Programs in Creative
Writing and Translation. “If you enjoy horror stories, gothic romances,
mysteries, suspense, young adult novels, even reportage, you’ll find something
of interest in Ms. Oates’ work. And, of course, she’s one of the most respected
voices in literary fiction working today.”
Oates is best known for her novels Them; Blonde, a fictional portrait of the inner life of Marilyn
Monroe; The Falls, which won
France’s Prix Femina; We Were the Mulvaneys, an Oprah’s Book Club selection; and for her most
anthologized short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Her most
recent works include Daddy Love
and The Accursed, and her new
novel, Carthage, due to be
published in January 2014.
In addition to the reading, Ms. Oates will meet with
students in the Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing during her
visit.
The creative writing program’s Distinguished Readers
Series is made possible by the Fine Arts Activity Fee, the Department of
English, and the James E. and Ellen Wadley Roper Professorship in Creative Writing.
Their generous support means there is no charge to attend Ms. Oates’ reading,
and no tickets are required. Books will be for sale at the venue, with a
signing to follow the reading.