Author of the Inspector Alan Banks series and welcome presence at crime fiction festivals around the world
September 2022
Some like it overheated: how Marilyn Monroe is betrayed by Blonde
Mark Kermode's film of the week
Blonde review – a hellish vision of Marilyn and her monsters
Audiobook of the week
Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates audiobook review – an imagined life of Marilyn Monroe
Peter Bradshaw's film of the week
Blonde review – Ana de Armas gives her all as Monroe in otherwise incurious film
‘I truly believe she was close’: star of new biopic sensed Marilyn Monroe on set
‘Every time I write, it’s like the first time’: Joyce Carol Oates on her 61 novels, Twitter storms and widowhood
August 2022
Observer book of the week
Babysitter by Joyce Carol Oates review – risk-taking and unforgettable
The tale of a 1970s housewife seeking self-obliteration in an abusive affair in Detroit, set against the backdrop of child serial killings, is an astonishing achievement
July 2022
The myth of Marilyn Monroe: how her ‘sex bomb’ image buries the truth
Six decades on, the spectacle of Marilyn Monroe’s tumultuous life and death continues to hold us in its grip. With a major new biopic on the way, her biographer sorts fact from fiction
June 2022
Blonde: first trailer for ‘disturbing’ Marilyn Monroe biopic released
Netflix film, which has been called ‘startling’ by source author Joyce Carol Oates, stars Ana de Armas as the tragic actor
May 2022
Blonde: will a shocking new film shatter the myth of Marilyn Monroe?
From Cannes to the Met Gala, the screen icon’s lucrative legacy lives on. But how will a new film affect the way the world sees her?
April 2022
Ten tweets in need of the new edit button: from covfefe to Oscars selfie
As Twitter prepares to roll out its new edit function, a look back at the tweets that could have done with one
March 2022
Night, Neon and Other Stories of Suspense by Joyce Carol Oates review – nuanced, not neat, thrillers
Embracing the twists and turns of everyday American life, the author’s latest short story collection is playful, gripping and disturbing
October 2021
Down the rabbit hole
Degrees of separation: what connects Ana de Armas to Joan Didion?
From Knives Out to Joan Didion via Herman Hupfeld: we go down the rabbit hole of the Bond star’s career
September 2021
Margaret Atwood and JM Coetzee demand release of jailed Iranian writers
A letter by PEN America, signed by dozens of high-profile writers and artistic figures, calls for Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi to be acquitted
November 2020
Elena Ferrante names her 40 favourite books by female authors
List by pseudonymous author of beloved Neapolitan novels includes Zadie Smith, Sally Rooney and several Italian classics
June 2020
Book of the day
Night. Sleep. Death. The Stars. by Joyce Carol Oates review – a portrait of a family and a nation in crisis
Running the gamut from tragic to funny, Joyce Carol Oates’s immersive new novel is an uncomfortable snapshot of modern-day America
June 2019
Books interview
Joyce Carol Oates: ‘It’s a fairytale nightmare to be rejected’
The acclaimed author on the power of familial love, ignoring advice to write only about domestic life, and the recent death of her husband
December 2018
Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates review – exiled from the future
In this audacious thought experiment about the shrinking of human potential, a rebellious teen is sent back to the 50s
November 2018
Book of the day
Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates review – an American nightmare
Fear stalks the veteran writer’s 46th novel – a disturbing love story set in a totalitarian US
