Photo: InfoGibraltar / CC BY 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Joanne Harris is the rare novelist whose breakthrough feels earned rather than gifted. Raised in Barnsley to a French mother and a British father, she taught French for fifteen years and quietly published three novels before Chocolat changed everything. I love that detail; it speaks to a writer who kept faith in her craft long before the world rewarded it. Her sensory, food-soaked storytelling turns chocolate and orchards into something almost enchanted, and the MBE and Royal Society of Literature fellowship confirm what readers already knew. The whole journey, from classroom to bestseller, reads like one of her own warm, patient tales.
Overview
Joanne Michèle Sylvie Harris (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. Born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, of a French mother and a British father, she was a teacher of French for 15 years and had published three novels during this period before the surprise success of Chocolat enabled her to write full time.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Joanne Harris
- Name (Japanese)
- ジョアン・ハリス
- Reading
- じょあん・はりす
- Born
- July 3, 1964 (age 61)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Dragon
- Origin
- Barnsley, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- writer / novelist / university teacher / teacher
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Wakefield Girls' High School
- University
- St Catharine's College
Awards & achievements
- Member of the Order of the British Empire
- 2022 Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Chocolat | — | |
| Notable work | Five Quarters of the Orange | — | |
| Notable work | Blackberry Wine | — | |
| Notable work | Gentlemen & Players | — | |
| Notable work | The Lollipop Shoes | — | |
| Notable work | Runemarks | — |
6. Links
Writer — see all → · Novelist — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.