Joanne Harris (OBE, FRSL) is the internationally bestselling author of CHOCOLAT (1999) and dozens of other novels, novellas, short story collections, scripts and works of non-fiction. She writes across several genres, and her work often contains elements of folklore, mythology, magic realism, psychological thriller, crime and literary fiction. She also works with the #Storytime Band, exploring a fusion of narrative fiction, original music, screen projections and elements of theatre. 

She has worked with a number of other creators, including illustrators Bonnie Helen Hawkins and Charles Vess, and the composer Howard Goodall, with whom she co-wrote a musical, STUNNERS. In 2000 CHOCOLAT was adapted as a movie starring Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp. 

She holds honorary doctorates from Huddersfield University and the University of Sheffield, and is an honorary Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. She sat on the SOA Management Committee for 7 years (2016-2024), and was Chair of the SOA for 4 years (2019-2024). She is currently on the Board of the ALCS, and remains passionately committed to authors’ rights, fair pay, copyright and equitable contracts. She has judged a number of literary prizes, including the Orange (Women’s) Prize, the Whitbread (Costa) Prize, the Desmond Elliot Prize, and the Royal Society Prize for Science. 

Her special interests are: folklore, scent, music, art, psychology, the occult, food, films, musical theatre, travel, nature, myths and legends.

Her latest book is MAIDEN, MOTHER, CRONE (Gollancz, 2023).