“From a very young age my mother persuaded me that I could write for fun, but I had to have a proper job - very good advice.”

British author, born 1964

Joanne Harris is a British author, best known for her 1999 novel Chocolat, later adapted into a film of the same name. Born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, to a French mother and a British father, she first worked as a teacher of French for 15 years. During that time, she had already published three novels. After the unexpected success of Chocolat, she began writing full time and has since written more than 30 books across several genres, including fantasy, psychological thrillers, novellas, short stories, and non-fiction. Her work often explores women’s agency, folklore, motherhood, community, outsiders, and food.