Joanne Harris

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Joanne Michèle Sylvie Harris Template:Post-nominals (born 3 July 1964) is a British author, best known for her 1999 novel Chocolat, which was adapted into a film of the same name.

Early life

Joanne Harris was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, to an English father and a French mother,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and lived above her grandparents' corner sweet shop until the age of three.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Harris' mother did not speak English when she married, and so Harris spoke only French until she started school.<ref name="brace">Template:Cite web</ref> Both her parents taught French at Barnsley Girls' High School.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Harris attended Wakefield Girls' High School and Barnsley Sixth Form College.<ref name="lacey">Template:Cite news</ref> She studied modern and mediaeval languages at St Catharine's College, Cambridge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She met her husband Kevin when they were both students at Barnsley Sixth Form College.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Growing up, Harris was influenced by Norse mythology,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> classic adventure stories including Jules Verne and Rider Haggard,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the work of Shirley Jackson,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ray Bradbury, Mervyn Peake and Emily Brontë.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Literary career

After a year as an accountant, which she later described as "like being trapped in a Terry Gilliam film",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Harris trained as a teacher at the University of Sheffield, and for 15 years she taught modern languages, mostly at the independent Leeds Grammar School, and later taught French literature at the University of Sheffield.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While she was a teacher, she published the horror/gothic novels The Evil Seed and Sleep, Pale Sister,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as Chocolat,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> a literary novel set in a French village, which was shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award, and which allowed Harris to give up teaching to write full-time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Following the success in 2000 of the motion picture Chocolat, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, with a screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> the book sold more than a million copies, making Harris one of only four women to have sold more than a million copies of a single book in the UK.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Harris wrote three further 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,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as three French cookbooks (co-written with Fran Warde).<ref name="did">Template:Cite web</ref>

Chocolat was followed by the novels Blackberry Wine (2000) and Five Quarters of the Orange (2001), described by The Guardian as "quirky, sensuous books set in the French countryside, in which food dominates events as a token of love, a bargaining chip, a gesture of defiance".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> They were followed by Coastliners in 2002<ref name="locus">Template:Cite web</ref> and Holy Fools in 2003,<ref name="locus"/> both of which are set on the fictional French island of Le Devin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2007, Harris published Runemarks, a fantasy novel based on Norse mythology. The sequels, Runelight, The Gospel of Loki and The Testament of Loki followed between 2011 and 2017. Harris' fantasy novels and novellas were published under the name Joanne M. Harris to distinguish them from her other work.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2006, Harris published Gentlemen and Players, a psychological thriller set in the fictional boys' grammar school of St Oswald's, inspired by her time as a teacher.<ref name="brace" /> This was followed by two more St Oswald's books, Different Class and A Narrow Door, alongside two more psychological thrillers, Blueeyedboy and Broken Light,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> all set in the fictional town of Malbry, inspired by the Yorkshire village of Almondbury.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Harris has also published three novellas, A Pocketful of Crows, The Blue Salt Road, and Orfeia, loosely based on Child Ballads and illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins, as well as two collections of short stories and numerous contributions to various charitable anthologies. In 2021, she published Honeycomb, a collection of original fairytales forming a mosaic novel,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> illustrated by Charles Vess.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She has also published a Doctor Who novella, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Time Traveller.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2024, Orion Books announced plans to bring out a prequel to Chocolat, entitled Vianne, due to be published in 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Harris' books have now been published in more than 50 languages.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Journalism

Harris writes regularly for the press, and has written multiple travel pieces for The Telegraph,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Guardian,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Independent<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and The Times,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as articles on more literary themes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2017 she won a Fragrance Foundation Jasmine Award for an article on memory and scent, published in Good Housekeeping.<ref name=":0" />

Themes

Repeated themes in Harris' books include: food as a means of understanding character;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the dynamic between feasting and fasting; motherhood and the patriarchy;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> tensions within communities; outsiders and outcasts;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> religious intolerance and "the magic of everyday things".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Many of Harris' books are about women who challenge the status quo and the way in which women are perceived in society.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Harris also regularly uses folklore and myth in her novels, giving a modern, original spin to traditional stories.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

The books have been praised for their multi-layered storytelling, use of culinary metaphors<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and arresting plot twists.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Guardian describes Harris' books as "astringent, highly original and often subtly fantastic mainstream novels".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The Irish Times says: "The Chocolat novels are poignant literary explorations of universal themes of pleasure and denial, the dangers of dogma, xenophobia and racism and the enduring power of love and understanding to eradicate the traumas of the past,"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> with a Locus review calling Harris "exceedingly gifted at producing vivid imagery".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Critics have remarked on her skill at "foreshadowing impending doom" and "unerring eye for school life".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some reviewers have questioned the plausibility of some of the plot twists, while acknowledging the compulsive nature of the read.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Other activities

Music

Harris has been involved in a number of musical projects, including collaborating with Lucie Treacher and the Tête à Tête Opera Festival to create two mini-operas,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> performing with the Storytime Band<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and building a stage show based on her work,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and co-writing and developing an original stage musical, Stunners, with Howard Goodall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2018 she and the Storytime Band were guests on the Christmas special of The Verb.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Prize Judging

She has judged the Orange (Women's) Prize,<ref name="GdnOrange">Template:Cite news</ref> the Whitbread Prize,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Desmond Elliott Prize,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Betty Trask Prize,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Primadonna Prize,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Comedy Women in Print<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Award and the Winton Prize for Science Books.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2024 Harris was announced<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as the chief judge of the new Entente Littéraire Prize for French and UK Young Adult novels, a joint initiative of Queen Camilla and Brigitte Macron, sponsored by the Royal Society of Literature.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

Harris is a regular guest on radio and TV, appearing on Woman's Hour,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A Good Read,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Front Row,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Verb,<ref name=":1" /> The Wright Stuff,<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Question Time, <ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Loose Ends,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>With Great Pleasure,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Saturday Live,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Tune,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Today programme.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2008 she appeared in the TV miniseries The Worlds of Fantasy.<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> She appeared in two episodes of the TV series Inside Out: one in 2009 investigating the "real story" behind the death of Charlotte Bronte,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the other 2010 on the topic of faith schools.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2011 she featured in the episode The Villain of the four-part TV series Faulks On Fiction alongside Sebastian Faulks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2016 she appeared in one episode of Christmas University Challenge.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

She is active on social media, and in 2016 was nominated for a Shorty Award for her contributions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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 Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now".<ref name="did" />

Charity work

Harris is a patron of the charities Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), to which she donated the proceeds of her cookery books,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Plan UK. In 2009 she travelled to the Congo to report on MSF's work there,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> spending three weeks with aid workers in the danger zones to write an article on MSF's sleeping sickness programme.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2012 she travelled to several villages in Togo as part of their Because I Am a Girl project, later writing the short story Road Song based on her experiences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Activism

Harris was chair of the management committee of the Society of Authors for two terms from 2020 to 2024,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> being unanimously re-elected to the position in March 2022.<ref name="bookseller">Template:Cite news</ref> She assisted in several SOA campaigns, including calling for more investment in libraries and the arts,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> calling for translators to have their names on the cover of books, and raising awareness on author pay and conditions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2022 she appeared on the Bookseller's list of the 150 most influential people in publishing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She has also campaigned against library closures,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> has called for literary festivals to pay contributors,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> has spoken out in favour of trigger warnings in books<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and has spoken out against sexism in publishing<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the gendering of children's books.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015, Harris launched a protest against the Clean Reader app, which had been designed to replace profanities in books with "clean" alternatives, calling it "censorship, not by the state, but by a religious minority". This campaign, which was supported by many other authors, including Chuck Wendig, Charles Stross and Margaret Atwood, led to the speedy removal of the app.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2022 a members' vote was raised calling for Harris to stand down as chair of the SOA, in relation to the society's stance on protecting free speech.<ref name="urwin">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The motion was defeated, with 81% voting against.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Harris became a member of the Board of the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society in 2019,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was re-elected in 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During this time she campaigned against the unregulated use of generative AI,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> called for "an industry-wide standard to be introduced" for festivals to pay their contributors,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> campaigned for a wider awareness of copyright issues<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the importance of fair pay for authors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She stepped down from the post in 2024, having served two terms.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2025 she signed an open letter alongside Richard Osman, Kate Mosse and Val McDermid, calling for the UK government "to hold Meta accountable over its use of copyrighted books to train artificial intelligence."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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.<ref name=rsl>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref>

In 2022, she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=rsl/>

In 2022, Harris was also named PinkNewsTemplate:' "Ally of the Year".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable literary awards

Chocolat (2001): Shortlisted: Whitbread Novel of the Year Award (2000); winner, USC Scripter Awards (2001); Whitaker Gold Award (2001);<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Whitaker Platinum Award (2012).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Blackberry Wine: Whitaker Gold Award (2002); winner: Salon Du Livre Gourmand (Gourmand Awards): International category: Drinks Literature (2000).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Five Quarters of the Orange: Shortlisted: Popular Fiction category WH Smith Literary Award 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Winner: Premio Grinzane Cavour (Italy, 2002)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The French Kitchen (with Fran Warde): 2005 Winner of the Golden Ladle for Best Soft Cover Recipe Book Over US$25 in Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Gentlemen & Players: Shortlisted for the Edgar Award Best Novel, 2007 (USA)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Grand Prix du Polar de Cognac (France).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Flavours of Childhood (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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The Gospel of Loki: Finalist of the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature, 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Every Scent Tells a Tale (a piece written for Good Housekeeping): Winner of Fragrance Foundation Jasmine Award (Literary Category), 2017.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
A Pocketful of Crows: Shortlisted for 2018 British Fantasy Award for Best Novella.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Harris lives in Yorkshire with her husband Kevin, and has a son.<ref name=bbcr4today-20221209>Template:Cite AV media</ref> She works from a shed in her garden.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Harris was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, and discussed the diagnosis and her ongoing treatment on social media and at the Hay Festival.<ref name="knight">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2023, she was declared cancer-free, and wrote in The Guardian that the experience had made her reassess her priorities and had given her back her voice.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

She has stated that she has a form of synaesthesia "in which colours in bright light trigger scents". She also suffers from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in winter,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>and has dyscalculia, an inability to process numbers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Publications

Gothic novels

Chocolat series

Template:Cite book
Template:Cite book (US title: The Girl With No Shadow, April 2008)
Template:Cite book (US title: Peaches for Father Francis)
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Books set in France

Cookery books (with Fran Warde)

Short story collections

Malbry series

Rune series

Template:Cite book (2007 in the UK, 2008 in the US) as Joanne M. Harris
Template:Cite book (September 2011 in the UK) as Joanne M. Harris
Template:Cite book (February 2014), as Joanne M. Harris
Template:Cite book (2018) (as Joanne M. Harris)

Novellas

Template:Cite book (October 2014). Doctor Who novella.
Template:Cite book(2017) a folklore-inspired novella (as Joanne M. Harris), illustrated by Bonnie Hawkins.
Template:Cite book (2018) (as Joanne M. Harris). Illustrated by Bonnie Hawkins.
Template:Cite book (2020) (as Joanne M. Harris). Illustrated by Bonnie Hawkins.

On writing

Template:Cite book (2020) a self-help book for writers. Illustrated by Moose Alain.

Fantasy and science fiction

Template:Cite book (2021) (as Joanne M. Harris). Illustrated by Charles Vess.
Template:Cite book (2023). Omnibus edition of three folklore-inspired novellas (A Pocketful of Crows, The Blue Salt Road and Orfeia), plus additional stories. Illustrated by Bonnie Helen Hawkins.
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Stories in anthologies

Template:Cite book A collection of stories in aid of Piggybank Kids.Edited by J.K. Rowling.
Template:Cite book A collection of stories in aid of Breast Cancer UK.
Template:Cite bookA collection of stories in aid of Piggybank Kids.
Template:Cite book A collection of stories in aid of Piggybank Kids.
Template:Cite book A collection in aid of Piggybank Kids.
Template:Cite book A collection of erotic stories by well-known female writers.
Template:Cite book Charity anthology in aid of Plan UK.
Template:Cite book A collection of fantasy tales, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio.
Template:Cite bookA collection of eyewitness accounts by well-known authors of extreme conditions and war-torn locations. In aid of MSF.
Template:Cite bookCharity anthology in aid of the Woodland Trust.
Template:Cite book Charity anthology in aid of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition.
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Template:Cite book Edited by David Miller.
Template:Cite bookA collection of Doctor Who stories by various authors, including the Harris novella The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Time Traveller.
Template:Cite book An anthology of stories on the subject of curses, edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane.

Audiobooks narrated by Joanne Harris

References

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External links

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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 Template:Webarchive

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