Joanne Harris OBE FRSL
Harris in 2020
Born	(1964-07-03) 3 July 1964 Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England (now in South Yorkshire)
Occupation	writer
Nationality	British/French
Education	Wakefield Girls' High School Barnsley Sixth Form College
Alma mater	St Catharine's College, Cambridge
Genre	literary fiction magic realism fantasy psychological thriller folklore gothic
Notable works	Chocolat Blackberry Wine Five-Quarters of the Orange Gentlemen & Players The Lollipop Shoes Runemarks Runelight Peaches for Monsieur le Curé
Spouse	Kevin Harris ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	1
Website
www.joanne-harris.co.uk

Joanne Michèle Sylvie Harris OBE FRSL (born 3 July 1964) is an English-French author, best known for her novel Chocolat (1999) adapted (2000) as the film Chocolat.

Early life

Joanne Harris was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire,^[1] to an English father and a French mother, both of whom taught French at Barnsley Girls' High School.^[2][3] As a child Harris was influenced by classic adventure stories including Jules Verne and Rider Haggard.^[4] She studied modern and mediaeval languages at St Catharine's College, Cambridge.^[5]

Literary career

After a single year as an accountant, which she later described as "like being trapped in a Terry Gilliam film",^[6] she trained as a teacher at the University of Sheffield, and for 15 years she taught modern languages, mostly at the independent Leeds Grammar School. She also taught at Sheffield University, lecturing on aspects of French literature and film.^[7] During this period she worked on a number of book projects; The Evil Seed, Sleep, Pale Sister and Chocolat were published while she was still teaching.^[8]

In 1999 her third novel, Chocolat won the Creative Freedom Award and was shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award. Following the success of the motion picture Chocolat starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, the book sold more than a million copies.^[9] Harris went on to write three more novels in the Chocolat series: The Lollipop Shoes (titled The Girl With No Shadow in the US), Peaches for Monsieur le Curé (Peaches for Father Francis in the US), and The Strawberry Thief,^[10] as well as three French cookbooks (co-written with Fran Warde).^[11]

In 2007, Harris published Runemarks, a fantasy novel based on Norse mythology. The sequel, Runelight, was published in 2011 and follow ups The Gospel of Loki in 2014 and Testament of Loki in 2017. In addition, Harris has published two collections of short stories and a number of dark psychological thrillers, including Gentlemen and Players, Different Class, Blueeyedboy, A Narrow Door and Broken Light.^[12] Several of her novels are set in the fictional town of Malbry, inspired by the Yorkshire village of Almondbury.^[13][14]

Harris has published three novellas – A Pocketful of Crows, The Blue Salt Road, and Orfeia, loosely based on Child Ballads – and illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins. In 2021 she published Honeycomb, a collection of original fairytales, illustrated by Charles Vess. She has donated short stories to various charitable anthologies.

She judged the Orange (Women's) Prize,^[15] the Whitbread Prize,^[16] the Desmond Elliott Prize,^[17] the Primadonna Prize^[18] and the Winton Prize for Science Books.^[19]

Other activities

Harris is a patron of the charities Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), to which she donated the proceeds of her cookery books,^[20] and Plan UK, and she has travelled to Togo and to the Congo to report on their work.^[21] Harris sits on the Board of the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society.^[22]

Harris has also been involved in a number of musical projects, including collaborating with Lucie Treacher and the Tete-a-Tete Opera Festival to create two mini-operas,^[23][24] building a stage show with the Storytime Band based on her work,^[25] and co-writing and developing an original stage musical, Stunners, with Howard Goodall.^[26][27]

In 2021, Harris was a guest on BBC's Desert Island Discs, where her chosen book was the collected works of Victor Hugo, her luxury was her own shed, and the record she "would save from the waves" was Johnny Cash's "I Can See Clearly Now".^[11]

In 2022, Harris was Pink News Ally of the Year.^[28]

Harris became chair of the management committee of the Society of Authors in 2020.^[29] She assisted in several SOA campaigns, including raising awareness on author pay and conditions.^[30][31]

Honours and awards

Harris is the holder of honorary doctorates in literature from the University of Huddersfield and the University of Sheffield, and is an Honorary Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge.

Harris was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours and Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to literature.^[32]

In 2022, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.^[33]

Harris's Book Awards include:

• Chocolat: Creative Freedom Award (2000); Whitaker Gold Award (2001). Shortlisted: Whitbread Novel of the Year Award (2000), Scripter Award (2001); film version nominated for 8 BAFTAs and 5 Oscars.^[34] Whitaker Platinum Award (2012).
• Blackberry Wine: 2000 Winner of both the Foreign and International categories of the Salon du Livre Gourmand (France). Whitaker Gold Award (2002).
• Five-Quarters of the Orange: Shortlisted: 2002 RNA Novel of the Year; Author of the Year 2002; WHSmith Award 2002 (UK).
• The French Kitchen: (a cookbook with Fran Warde): 2005 Winner of the Golden Ladle for Best Recipe Book (softcover) in the World Food Media Awards.^[35]
• Gentlemen & Players: Shortlisted for the Edgar Award, 2007 (USA)^[34] and the Grand Prix du Polar de Cognac (France).^[36]
• Flavours of Childhood: (a piece co-written for the BBC Radio 4 series First Taste with poet Sean O'Brien) Winner of the Glenfiddich Award Food and Drink Award for broadcasting, 2006^[37]
• Every Scent Tells a Tale: (a piece written for Good Housekeeping): Winner of Fragrance Foundation Jasmine Award (Literary Category), 2017.^[38]

Personal life

Harris lives in Yorkshire with her husband Kevin, and has a son.^[39] She works from a shed in her garden.^[40]

Harris was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, and discussed the diagnosis and her ongoing treatment on social media and at the Hay Festival.^[41] She has stated that she has a form of synaesthesia "in which colours in bright light trigger scents", and also suffers from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in winter.^[42]

Publications

• The Evil Seed (1989)
• Sleep, Pale Sister (1993)
• Chocolat (1999)
• Blackberry Wine (2000)
• Five-Quarters of the Orange (2001)
• The French Kitchen, A Cook Book (2002)
• Coastliners (2002)
• Holy Fools (2003)
• Jigs & Reels (2004)
• Gentlemen & Players (2005)
• The French Market (2005)
• The Lollipop Shoes (2007) (US title: The Girl With No Shadow, April 2008)
• Runemarks (2007 in the UK, 2008 in the US)
• Blueeyedboy (1 April 2010 in the UK)
• Runelight (September 2011 in the UK)
• Peaches for Monsieur le Curé (May 2012) (US title: Peaches for Father Francis, October 2012)
• A Cat, a Hat and a Piece of String (October 2012)
• The Gospel of Loki (February 2014), as Joanne M. Harris
• The Little Book of Chocolat (March 2014), with Fran Warde
• The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Time Traveller (October 2014). Doctor Who novella.
• Different Class (2016)
• A Pocketful of Crows (2017) a folklore-inspired novella
• The Testament of Loki (2018)
• The Blue Salt Road (2018)
• The Strawberry Thief (2019)
• Orfeia (2020)
• Ten Things About Writing(2020) a self-help book for writers.
• Honeycomb (2021)
• A Narrow Door (2021)
• Broken Light (2023)
• Maiden, Mother, Crone (2023)

Stories featured in the following anthologies:

• Magic (2002). A collection of stories in aid of Piggybank Kids.
• Bosom Buddies (2003). A collection of stories in aid of Breast Cancer UK.
• Journey to the Sea (2005). A collection of stories in aid of Piggybank Kids.
• Mums – a Celebration of Motherhood (2006). A collection of stories in aid of Piggybank Kids.
• Dads – a Celebration of Fatherhood (2007). A collection in aid of Piggybank Kids.
• In Bed With... (2009). A collection of erotic stories by well-known female writers.
• Because I am a Girl (2010). Charity anthology in aid of Plan UK.
• Stories (2010). A collection of fantasy tales, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio.
• Writing on the Edge (2010). A collection of eyewitness accounts by well-known authors of extreme conditions and war-torn locations. In aid of MSF.
• Why Willows Weep (2011). Charity anthology in aid of the Woodland Trust.
• Beacons (2013). Charity anthology in aid of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition.
• Fearie Tales (2014)
• That Glimpse of Truth – the 100 Finest Short Stories Ever Written (2014), edited by David Miller.
• Time Trips (2015). A collection of Doctor Who stories by various authors, including the Joanne Harris novella The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Time Traveller.
• Twice Cursed (2023). An anthology of stories on the subject of curses, edited by Marie o'Regan and Paul Kane.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Joanne Harris.

• The Joanne Harris Website
• RED interview
• Norse Mythology Blog interview with Joanne Harris: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
• Authors at Transworld
• Authortrek interview with Kevin Patrick Mahoney
• Guardian feature, July 2001
• Joanne Harris: The sensuality of language is not that different from the sensuality of food, Interviews with exceptional minds, Eximia Archived 5 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine