27/7/2014 Joanne Harris - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Joanne Harris
Joanne Harris at King's Chapel during the Gibraltar
International Literary Festival in 2013
Born 3 July 1964
Barnsley, Yorkshire, England
Occupation writer
Nationality British/French
Genres literary fiction, magic realism, fantasy,
gastromance.
Notable
work(s)
Chocolat, Blackberry Wine, Five
Quarters of the Orange Holy Fools,
Coastliners, Runemarks, Runelight,
Gentlemen and Players, The Lollipop
Shoes, Blueeyedboy, Peaches for
Monsieur le Cur.
Joanne Harris
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joanne Michle Sylvie Harris MBE (born 3 July
1964, Barnsley, Yorkshire) is an acclaimed British author,
famous for writing the award-winning novel Chocolat
which was later turned into a highly successful film.
Contents
1 Biography
2 Early life
3 Books
4 Recurrent Themes
5 Awards and Honours
6 Bibliography
7 References
8 External links
Biography
She was born in her grandparents' sweet shop. 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 Yorkshire family, where no-one spoke French, and
her Breton family, where no-one spoke English. Both
families had turbulent histories and a tradition of strong
women, kitchen gardening, storytelling, folklore and
cookery.
[1]
Early life
Her writing began at an early age and was strongly
influenced by Grimms' Fairy Tales and the tales of Charles Perrault, as well as local folklore and Norse
mythology.
[2]
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",
[3]
she trained as a teacher at
Sheffield University, and for fifteen years she taught modern languages, mostly at Leeds Grammar School, a
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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, three of which (The Evil
Seed, Sleep, Pale Sister and Chocolat) were published before she left teaching to become a full-time writer.
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 area of
France, reached No. 1 in the Sunday Times newspaper's bestseller list. The book won the Creative Freedom
Award in 1999 and was shortlisted for the 1999 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award. The movie 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 "Millionnaires' Club," the elite group of authors who have achieved a million sales of one
book in the UK since records began.
[4]
Since then, all Harris' 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 Cur (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 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.
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
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damaged or morally ambivalent. Father-figures are frequently absent, and mothers (e.g.:Blueeyedboy and Five
Quarters of the Orange) are often portrayed as controlling, harsh or even abusive. 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 Cur, 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' 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 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
[12]
and chaired the
Desmond Elliott Prize.
[13]
She 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 a patron of the charities Mdecins Sans Frontires (Doctors Without Borders) and Plan UK, and has
traveled 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 to a number of charity anthologies, 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.
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She 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, 8 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 Cur (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
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.
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References
Authors at Transworld (http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/joanneharris/home.htm)
Authortrek interview with Kevin Patrick Mahoney
(http://www.authortrek.com/joanne_harris_interview.html)
1. ^ "Joanne Harris, About the Author" (http://www.mostlyfiction.com/world/harris.htm). Mostly Fiction Book
Reviews. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
2. ^ "Seven Miles of Steel Thistles: The Pied Piper of Hamelin" (http://steelthistles.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/pied-
piper-of-hamelin.html). Steelthistles.blogspot.co.uk. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
3. ^ Harriet Lane (2001-07-14). "Interview: Joanne Harris | Books | The Observer"
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/jul/15/fiction.summerreading20011). London: Guardian. Retrieved
2012-08-30.
4. ^ Book Reviews (2012-05-18). "The Millionaire Authors' Club"
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9272388/The-Millionaire-Authors-Club.html). London:
Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
5. ^ Williams, Andrew (2012-08-23). "Chocolat author Joanne Harris talks about her latest novel Blue Eyed Boy"
(http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/820774-chocolat-author-joanne-harris-talks-about-her-latest-novel-blue-
eyed-boy). Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
6. ^ Trees (2011-10-04). "British Tree Week: Best woodland walks"
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/plants/trees/8804203/British-Tree-Week-Best-woodland-walks.html).
London: Telegraph. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
7. ^
a

b
"Mrs Joanne Harris Authorised Biography Debretts People of Today, Mrs Joanne Harris Profile"
(http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/h/22405/Joanne%20Mich%C3%A8le%20Sylvie+HARRIS
.aspx). Debretts.com. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
8. ^ Syntrx Solutions, http://www.syntrixsolutions.com. "2010 World Food Media Awards"
(http://www.worldfoodmediaawards.com/2005winners.html). Worldfoodmediaawards.com. Retrieved 2012-
08-30.
9. ^ "Le Rocher de Montmartre - - Joanne Harris | Editions Points" (http://www.lecerclepoints.com/livre-rocher-
montmartre-joanne-harris-9782757812754.htm). Lecerclepoints.com. 2009-11-26. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
10. ^ Institute of Advanced Study (2012-08-03). "Institute of Advanced Study : Lecture 5 - Durham University"
(http://www.dur.ac.uk/ias/events/thematic/figuringthehuman/obrien/). Dur.ac.uk. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
11. ^ "Joanne Harris | The Press, Christchurch Writers' Festival 2012" (http://chchwritersfest.co.nz/joanne-harris/).
Chchwritersfest.co.nz. 2012-07-06. Retrieved 2012-08-30.
12. ^ http://royalsociety.org/awards/science-books/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
13. ^ http://www.desmondelliottprize.org/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
14. ^ "Writing on the Edge: Great Contemporary Writers on the Front Line of Crisis: Amazon.co.uk: Dan Crowe,
Tom Craig: Books" (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Writing-Edge-Contemporary-Writers-
Crisis/dp/0847832910/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345287515&sr=1-1). Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved
2012-08-30.
15. ^ alex johnson (2011-02-23). "Exclusive: interview with shed-working author Joanne Harris"
(http://www.shedworking.co.uk/2011/02/exclusive-interview-with-shedworking.html). Shedworking. Retrieved
2012-08-30.
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Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Joanne
Harris.
Guardian feature, July 2001 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2001/jul/15/fiction.summerreading20011)
External links
The Joanne Harris Website (http://www.joanne-harris.co.uk/)
RED interview (http://www.redonline.co.uk/red-women/red-
chat/joanne-harris-red-book-club-red-chat)
Norse Mythology Blog interview with Joanne Harris: Part 1
(http://www.norsemyth.org/2012/08/interview-with-joanne-harris-runemarks.html), 2
(http://www.norsemyth.org/2012/09/interview-with-joanne-harris-runemarks.html), 3
(http://www.norsemyth.org/2012/09/interview-with-joanne-harris-runemarks_14.html), 4
(http://www.norsemyth.org/2012/09/interview-with-joanne-harris-runemarks_26.html), 5
(http://www.norsemyth.org/2012/10/interview-with-joanne-harris-runemarks_12.html)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joanne_Harris&oldid=616981642"
Categories: 1964 births Living people English women novelists Academics of the University of Sheffield
Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Magic realism writers
Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Barnsley English fantasy writers
English people of French descent English novelists Women short story writers
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