Joyce Carol Oates is an American author. Oates published her first book in 1963 and has since published over forty novels, as well as a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. She has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award, for her novel them , two O. Henry Awards, and the National Humanities Medal. Her novels Black Water , What I Lived For , and Blonde were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.