Joyce Carol Oates defends Nolan's Odyssey, compares translator Emily Wilson's critique to 'MAGA folks'

Joyce Carol Oates attacked Emily Wilson's London Review of Books critique of Nolan's The Odyssey, calling her tone "dismissal & haughty superiority" and likening her language to "the crude language of MAGA folks," per Deadline (29 July 2026). Oates argued the harsh criticism "is chilling, dampening for any creative artist." Wilson had written: "I would be ashamed to have written any part of this script."