#ra

A lot of widows feel that they have betrayed their spouse by continuing to live. It's deranged thinking. I know that, but that doesn't stop you feeling it. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#continuing #deranged #feel #feeling #i

A typical biography relying upon individuals' notorious memories and the anecdotes they've invented contains a high degree of fiction, yet is considered 'nonfiction.' ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#biography #considered #contains #degree #fiction

A writer can't subtract or excise any of his/her past because doing so would erase the work produced during that time. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#because #doing #during #erase #her

As a child. I grew up on a small farm, so I did a lot of drawings of animals, chickens and people. At the bottom of every page, I'd put a strange scribble. I was emulating adult handwriting, though I didn't actually know how to write. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#adult #bottom #chickens #child #did

Boxing is a celebration of the lost religion of masculinity all the more trenchant for its being lost. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#boxing #celebration #lost #masculinity #more

Criticism is, for me, like essay writing, a wonderful way of relaxation; it doesn't require a heightened and mediated voice, like prose fiction, but rather a calm, rational, even conversational voice. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#conversational #criticism #essay #even #fiction

Honorary degrees and lifetime achievement awards are very encouraging. I know that it might sound strange that a writer who has published many books still needs encouragement, but this is true. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#awards #books #degrees #encouragement #encouraging

I consider tragedy the highest form of art. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#consider #form #highest #highest form #i

I think all art comes out of conflict. When I write I am always looking for the dramatic kernel of an event, the junctures of people's lives when they go in one direction, not another. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#am #another #art #comes #conflict

I just want to go through Central Park and watch folks passing by. Spend the whole day watching people. I miss that. ↗

— Barack Obama

#central park #day #folks #go #i