Joyce Carol Oates

Joyce Carol Oates ('56) is a nationally renowned author of over 25 novels including We Were the Mulvaneys (Oprah Book Club selection); Faithless: Tales of Transgression; and Blonde: A Novel. Known as a prolific writer, Oates is widely acclaimed for her short stories, essays, poetry and most recently, play-writing.

After graduating from South, Oates attended Syracuse University on scholarship, graduating as valedictorian. She went on to earn an M.A. in English at the University of Wisconsin. Oates and her husband, Raymond Smith, settled in Detroit and between 1968 and 1978 she taught at the University of Windsor in Canada, just across the border. In 1978, they moved to Princeton, NJ where she continues to teach in Princeton University's creative writing program. In addition, Oates and her husband publish a literary magazine, The Ontario Review.

Oates has received Honorary Doctorate degrees from Syracuse University, Northwestern University, Rutgers University, and the University of Michigan. She has won numerous awards including the prestigious F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Lifetime Achievement in American Literature; the PEN/Malamud Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Short Story; the Bram Stoker Award for Life Achievement; the Bobst Award for Lifetime Achievement in Fiction; and over two-dozen O Henry Awards for short stories.