‘Dreaming Back’ with Novelist Joyce Carol Oates

08/28/22 • 51 min

1 Listener

Today, we head to Princeton, New Jersey to sit with legendary writer Joyce Carol Oates. We begin with her daily routine, from writing to revision (6:34), the real-life events that inspired her new novel, Babysitter (9:09), and why she’s fascinated with examining violence in her work (14:06). Then, we walk through Oates’ early years: growing up on a farm (17:45), her literary influences (22:22), and the lasting relationship she formed with libraries (27:01).

On the back-half, Joyce revisits a 1977 journal entry on writing (28:30), how she grapples with criticism (31:20) and her complex relationship to Twitter (33:20). To close, we sit with love (40:05), loss (43:40), and why, at age eighty-four, she continues to tell new stories (50:22).

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Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso - ‘Dreaming Back’ with Novelist Joyce Carol Oates

Transcript

Speaker 100:00:15.156

Pushkin. This is Talk Easy. I'm Sama Fergoso. Welcome to the show today. I'm joined by the legendary writer Joyce Carol Oates. Since her debut in nineteen sixty four, Joyce has published over fifty novels, including A Garden of Earthly Delights, Them the Falls, and Jack of Spades. She's also written national best sellers like We Are the Mulvanyes and Blonde, the latter of which has just been adapted into a film starring On at armis out next month