Join National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Oates (
Them,
We Were the Mulvaneys,
Blonde) on her extraordinary life in letters — and her new book,
Letters to a Biographer — with Jonathan Safran Foer (
Here I Am,
Everything is Illuminated).
One of the most prodigious writers of her generation, Oates is a shapeshifting master of literary forms and genres — working in historical fiction, contemporary gothic short stories, critical essays, or even on social media, Oates has been a towering influence on younger writers for decades. In 1975, one such writer, Greg Johnson, wrote her a letter — beginning an epistolary friendship that evolved as Johnson became her biographer, and continues to this day. Her new book, compiled from these letters, is a funny, heartfelt, and candid look at her remarkable life and craft. Hear her and Foer — her former undergraduate writing student — as they discuss Oates’ career, her influence, and the future of American literature.