Joanne Harris

Joanne Harris at King's Chapel during the

Gibraltar International Literary Festival in
2013
3 July 1964 (age 53)
Born Barnsley, Yorkshire,
England
Pen name Joanne M. Harris
Occupation writer
Nationality English/French
literary fiction
Genre
magic realism
Chocolat
Blackberry Wine
Five Quarters of the
Orange'
Coastliners
Notable works Holy Fools
Gentlemen and Players
The French Market
The Lollipop Shoes
Runemarks
Blueeyedboy
 Runelight
Peaches for Monsieur le
Curé
The Gospel of Loki
Spouse Kevin Harris
Joanne Harris's voice

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Recorded December 2011 from the BBC
Radio 4 programme Woman's Hour

Joanne Michèle Sylvie Harris, MBE (born 3 July 1964) is an English

author, known for her award-winning novel Chocolat. It was later
turned into the 2000 film Chocolat.

Biography
Harris was born in Barnsley in Yorkshire, to an English father and a
French mother. Her parents were both academics, teaching modern
languages and literature at a local grammar school. Her first
language was French which caused divisions between her English
family, where no-one spoke French, and her French family, where no-
one spoke English. Both families had turbulent histories and a
tradition of strong women, kitchen gardening, storytelling, folklore
and cookery.

Early life
Harris began writing at an early age. She was strongly influenced by
Grimms' Fairy Tales and Charles Perrault's work, as well as local
folklore and Norse mythology.[1] She was educated at Wakefield Girls'
High School, Barnsley Sixth Form College, and St Catharine's College,
Cambridge, where she studied modern and medieval languages.

After a single, unsuccessful year as an accountant, which she

describes as "like being trapped in a Terry Gilliam movie",[2] she
trained as a teacher at Sheffield University, and for fifteen years she
taught modern languages, mostly at Leeds Grammar School, a boys'
independent school in Yorkshire. She also taught at Sheffield
University, lecturing on aspects of French literature and film. During
this period, she worked on a number of book projects.

The Evil Seed, Sleep, Pale Sister and Chocolat were published before
she retired from teaching to become an author full-time. [3]
Books
Her first novel, The Evil Seed, was published in 1989, with only
limited success. A second novel, Sleep, Pale Sister, shows the way in
which her style developed from horror-pastiche to literary ghost
story. In 1999, her third novel, Chocolat, a darkly magical modern
folk-tale, thematically based on food and set in the Gers region of
France, reached No. 1 in the Sunday Times' bestseller list. The book
won the Creative Freedom Award in 1999 and was shortlisted for the
1999 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award. The film rights were sold to
David Brown and developed by Miramax Pictures. The success of the
motion picture, starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp, brought
Harris worldwide recognition, and in 2012 she became one of only
four female members of the "Millionaires' Club," the elite group of
authors who have achieved a million sales of one book in the UK
since records began.[4]

Since Chocolat, all of Harris's books have been UK bestsellers. Her

wide-ranging choice of subject matter means that her work often
defies categorization, and she has a predilection for difficult or
challenging issues. She has written two more novels in the Chocolat
series, continuing the adventures of Vianne Rocher; The Lollipop
Shoes (re-titled The Girl With No Shadow in the US) and Peaches for
Monsieur le Curé (Peaches for Father Francis in the US), as well as
two French cookbooks (co-written with Fran Warde), two collections
of short stories and a number of dark psychological thrillers, including
Gentlemen and Players and Blueeyedboy.

In August 2007 she published Runemarks, a mythpunk/fantasy novel

based on Norse mythology, aimed at both children and adults. The
sequel, Runelight, was published in 2011, and since then, the Rune
books have acquired an enthusiastic following alongside the fans of
Vianne Rocher. Continuing the Norse mythology theme The Gospel of
Loki was published in February 2014. This book tells of the rise and
fall of the gods of Asgard from the point of view of Loki the trickster.

In 2011 she contributed a short story, Never Cut A Hawthorn, to Why

Willows Weep – an anthology which supports the Woodland Trust.

Recurrent themes
Some of Harris's recurrent themes are: issues of identity;
mother/child relationships; the emotional resonance of food; the
magic and horror of everyday things; the outsider in the community;
faith and superstition; the joy of small pleasures. She has spoken out
against entrenched sexism in the literary field, and she has discussed
how she weaves a critique of sexist attitudes into her fiction:
 For too long, women have been judged primarily on
“ their looks rather than their abilities, and, even now – in
a world in which we can hardly move for political
correctness – men and women are still viewed slightly
differently in the world of music, literature and the
creative arts. There is a patronizing smirk from the
world of literature when a woman writes a romantic
novel; but when a man does the same thing, he is being
sensitive and insightful, making a valuable statement on
the nature of relationships. In Runemarks, the same
thing happens; a boy who reads is intelligent and will go
a long way; a girl who reads is “clever,” which is useless
in a girl – even potentially dangerous. ”
— The Norse Mythology Blog's interview with Joanne Harris

Her writing style focuses on the senses, especially those of taste and
smell. This may be due to the fact that Harris has a form of
synaesthesia, in which she experiences colours as scents.[5] Her
novels are often much darker than the film adaptation of Chocolat
would lead us to suppose, and characters are often emotionally
damaged or morally ambivalent. Father-figures are frequently absent,
and mothers are often portrayed as controlling, harsh or even
abusive, as in Blueeyedboy and Five Quarters of the Orange. Harris
favours a first-person, dual-narrator narrative structure, often
revisiting past events to cast light on current developments. This
generally makes for complex characterization, and even minor
characters are often unusually well-developed. Her books have a very
strong sense of place, with settings that play as significant a role as
do the characters themselves. The fictional French village of
Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, the setting of Chocolat and Peaches for
Monsieur le Curé, also features in Blackberry Wine, and the fictional
Yorkshire village of Malbry is the setting for both Blueeyedboy and
Gentlemen and Players, as well as numerous short stories. Malbry is
also the name of Maddy's home in the Rune books, and seems to
bear a certain resemblance to Harris' home village of Almondbury.[6]

Awards and honours

Harris's books are now published in over fifty countries and have won
a number of UK and international awards, including:

 Chocolat: Creative Freedom Award (2000); Whittaker Gold

Award (2001). Shortlisted: Whitbread Novel of the Year Award
(2000), Scripter Award (2001); film version nominated for 8
BAFTAs and 5 Oscars.[7] Whittaker Platinum Award (2012).
  Blackberry Wine: 2000 Winner of both the Foreign and
International categories of the Salon du Livre Gourmand
(France).
 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.[8]
 Gentlemen & Players: Shortlisted for the Edgar Award, 2007
(USA)[7] and the Grand Prix du Polar de Cognac (France).[9]
 Flavours of Childhood: (a piece co-written for the Radio 4 series
First Taste with poet Sean o'Brien) Winner of the Glenfiddich
Award, 2006.[10]

In 2017 she won a Fragrance Foundation Jasmine Award for perfume

journalism. In 2004, she was a judge for the Whitbread Prize (now
the Costa), and in 2005, was a judge for the Orange Prize.[11]

In 2013 she was on the judging panel of the Royal Society Winton
Prize for Science Books[12] and chaired the Desmond Elliott Prize.[13]
In 2016, 2017 and 2018, she was on the judging panel of the Betty
Trask Prize. In 2016, 2017 and 2018 she was a judge for the
Fragrance Foundation 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. She is also an elected member of the
Management Committee of the Society of Authors.

She is a patron of the charities Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors

Without Borders) and Plan UK, and has travelled to Togo and to the
Congo to report on their work. An account of her visit to the Congo
was published in Writing on the Edge,[14] a collection of essays by
noted literary figures, with photographs by Tom Craig, in 2010. She
has also donated short stories for inclusion in anthologies published
by a number of charities, notably Piggybank Kids, the Woodland
Trust, the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition and Breast Cancer UK.

In 2013 she was awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours

List.

Harris works from a shed in her back garden [15] and is active on
Twitter, where she is known as @joannechocolat, and tumblr, (
http://joannechocolat.tumblr.com/ ) which she uses, along with her
website's message board, to answer questions from her fans. She is
married, and lives in Yorkshire with her husband Kevin and daughter
Anouchka.
Bibliography
 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) Dr Who novella.
 Different Class (2016)
 The Testament of Loki (2018)

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 DR WHO stories by various
authors, including the Joanne Harris novella, The Loneliness of
the Long-Distance Time Traveller.

References
1.

"Seven Miles of Steel Thistles: The Pied Piper of Hamelin".

Steelthistles.blogspot.co.uk. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
Harriet Lane (2001-07-14). "Interview: Joanne Harris | Books
| The Observer". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
"Joanne Harris, About the Author". Mostly Fiction Book
Reviews. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
Book Reviews (2012-05-18). "The Millionaire Authors' Club".
London: Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
Williams, Andrew (2012-08-23). "Chocolat author Joanne
Harris talks about her latest novel Blue Eyed Boy". Metro.co.uk.
Retrieved 2012-08-30.
Trees (2011-10-04). "British Tree Week: Best woodland
walks". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
"Mrs Joanne Harris Authorised Biography – Debrett's People of
Today, Mrs Joanne Harris Profile". Debretts.com. Retrieved 2012-08-
30.[permanent dead link]
Syntrx Solutions, http://www.syntrixsolutions.com. "2010
World Food Media Awards". Worldfoodmediaawards.com. Retrieved
2012-08-30.
"Le Rocher de Montmartre – - Joanne Harris | Editions Points".
Lecerclepoints.com. 2009-11-26. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
Institute of Advanced Study (2012-08-03). "Institute of
Advanced Study : Lecture 5 – Durham University". Dur.ac.uk.
Retrieved 2012-08-30.
"Joanne Harris | The Press, Christchurch Writers' Festival
2012". Chchwritersfest.co.nz. 6 July 2012. Archived from the original
on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
Previous Judges, Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books.
Accessed 12 June 2015.
Desmond Elliott Prize 2013: The Judges. Accessed 12 June
2015.
 "Writing on the Edge: Great Contemporary Writers on the
Front Line of Crisis: Amazon.co.uk: Dan Crowe, Tom Craig: Books".
Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-30.

15. alex johnson (2011-02-23). "Exclusive: interview with

shed-working author Joanne Harris". Shedworking. Retrieved
2012-08-30.