Except that awards are competitive, which is a negative thing, they are wonderful for singling out deserving individuals and bringing their work to the attention of many potential readers who might otherwise have been totally unaware of them.

Together the couple founded The Ontario Review a literary magazine in 1974 on which Oates served as associate editor. Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16 1938) is an American author.

Oates publiJoyce Carol Oatesd her first book in 1963 and has since publiJoyce Carol Oatesd 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 (1969) two O. Henry Awards and the National Humanities Medal.