Joyce Carol Oates
Born in June 1, 1938, in in Lockport, NY, Oates started life in a close but poor family. After attending a one-room school she began reading voraciously. By Junior High she was trying to imitate the writing style of authors like Faulkner and Hemingway. This lead to her developing a unique voice of her own as a writer and teacher. In 1956, she became the first person in her family to graduate high school. She went on to gain her PhD and wrote full time while teaching at several universities in America and Canada before settling in Princeton, NJ in 1978. She retired from
Princeton University in 2014.
Joyce Carol Oates Works
"Where are you going? Where have you been?"
Joyce Carol Oates Videos
January, 1 2023
This video is an in depth discussion with the author about her life, inspirations, and writing process.
Further Readings
Descriptions from Amazon
The Gravediggers' Daughter
Fleeing Nazi Germany in 1936, the Schwarts immigrate to a small town in upstate New York. Here the father—a former high school teacher—is demeaned by the only job he can get: gravedigger and cemetery caretaker. When local prejudice and the family's own emotional frailty give rise to an unthinkable tragedy, the gravedigger's daughter, Rebecca heads out into America. Embarking upon an extraordinary odyssey of erotic risk and ingenious self-invention, she seeks renewal, redemption, and peace—on the road to a bittersweet and distinctly “American” triumph.