Prolific and daring author Joyce Carol Oates on her childhood, widowhood and concerns about American society

Born during the Depression in Lockport, New York, Joyce Carol Oates started writing as a teen and has since written more than one hundred books, many of them portraying the darkness of American society. Her writing has earned her virtually every major American literary prize, as well as Montreal’s Blue Metropolis Grand Prix in 2012. After accepting that prize, she joined Eleanor Wachtel on stage to talk about her life, her work and her latest novel, Mudwoman.