Joyce Carol Oates set one of her novels in a fictitious college campus based on a place she knows well: Syracuse University.

Oates attended Syracuse University as an undergraduate and graduated as valedictorian of the Class of 1960. The novel, ‘I’ll Take You There’ explores the crucial elements of a young girl’s life as a college student, lover and daughter.

Oates will be the first author to give a lecture in this year’s Rosamond Gifford Lecture Series on Oct. 3 at the John H. Mulroy Civic Center. The series is organized by the Friends of the Central Library (FOCL) and gives the Central New York community a chance to hear distinguished authors discuss their lives and works.

Oates’ early life had a large influence on her work because she lived on a farm and listened to her grandparents read books. She said listening to other writers’ work helped her become a better writer and recommends other aspiring writers do the same.

‘Read widely and carefully … and listen to others,’ Oates said.

Oates has written more than 50 novels and novellas, 29 volumes of short stories, eight volumes of plays and eight collections of poetry. She currently teaches at Princeton University and founded a small press and literary magazine called The Ontario Review with her husband, Raymond J. Smith, in 1974.

Oates’ next novel will be ‘Black Girl, White Girl,’ and she continues to work on another novel and several short works. Oates said she enjoys what she does, which drives her to continue writing. An author’s credibility is established based on how other people view his or her writing, she said.

‘Faulkner is considered great because people enjoy his works,’ Oates said.

If you go:

What: Joyce Carol Oates

When: Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m.

Where: John H. Mulroy Civic Center

How much: $25