February 23, 7:45 p.m.

Twice nominated for the Nobel Prize, Joyce Carol Oates is the author of several books of poetry (Angel Fire, the recent Tenderness, and others) , Gothic novels (Bellefleur and others), suspense novels (published under the name Rosalind Smith), collections of short stories such as Collector of Hearts, and novels of psychological realism such as Them (National Book Award), You Must Remember This, Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart, and many others. Asked repeatedly how she manages to produce so much work (about fifty books so far) in so many genres, Oates once said, "I have always lived a very conventional life of moderation, absolutely regular hours, nothing exotic, no need, even, to organize my time." Since 1978, she has lived in Princeton, where she teaches in Princeton University's creative writing program and, with her husband Raymond Smith, publishes the literary magazine The Ontario Review. Oates recently won the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Over Oates' writing desk are these words by Henry James: "We work in the dark--we do what we can--we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art."