Joanne Harris makes room for pleasure, unease, folklore and fierce feeling in her fiction. A reader who first found her through a familiar screen story can follow a much wider writing life into a festival, from psychological suspense to stories touched by myth and the supernatural.
Harris writes novels, novellas and short stories, alongside screenplays, game scripts, work for the stage and cookbooks. She has also chaired the Society of Authors and judged literary prizes. The range gives her a working life that extends well beyond a single bestselling novel.
Her best-known novel was published in 1999 and became an Oscar-nominated film starring Juliette Binoche. That screen connection has brought many readers to her books, but her writing also travels through fantasy, ghost stories and darker suspense. If you enjoy a writer who moves between forms, there is plenty here to follow beyond the book that first caught your attention.
Her 2026 novel, Sleepers in the Snow, is a ghost story rooted in the North York Moors and folklore. Harris sets an invented village within that landscape and its traditions. Age, solitude and memory belong to its territory, giving readers who are drawn to atmosphere another strand of her work to explore.
What makes a live conversation attractive is the chance to hear about these choices from the writer: why a landscape takes hold, how a voice emerges, or how a story finds the form it needs. Bring the book you love most in your thoughts, but leave room to discover an unfamiliar side of the same author.
Where to start with their books
Chocolat
Vianne and her daughter arrive in a French village and open a chocolate shop that brings them into conflict with the local priest. Start here for the relationship between pleasure, guilt and tolerance that runs through this part of Harris’s fiction.
The Lollipop Shoes
Five years later, the story returns to Vianne and Anouk, with memory, fear and self-expression feeding into a darker continuation. Readers who want to stay with the same characters can follow the series into a more personal conflict.
Gentlemen and Players
This is the first of Harris’s St Oswald’s psychological thrillers, followed by Different Class and A Narrow Door. Her official guide says the books stand alone but recommends that order for readers who want to follow the world and characters developing.
Festival appearances
For tickets, use the host festival’s official box office. Confirm the date, venue and access details before paying.
Ilkley welcomed her to the Clarke Foley Centre on 18 October for a conversation about the new novel. Its moorland atmosphere offered a different focus from the earlier group discussion: a reader could spend time with the book’s landscape, memories and unease.
Where to see them next
Stratford Literary Festival’s 2026 programme included Joanne Harris: Sleepers in the Snow, 30 October 2026. 2026 event details.
No 2027 appearances announced yet. Check the festival guides for programme dates.
Plan your trip
For a ghost-story outing, let the journey be part of a reading day: take the book for the train, then allow an unhurried break after the conversation. If you are going with someone who knows only the film, share a short passage from the writing that made you want to hear Harris.
Ask the box office about a signing before carrying a heavy stack of books. Choose one copy that matters to you, and use the linked guide to keep accommodation and the return journey simple.
The 2026 programmes featured Joanne Harris at Henley Literary Festival, Ilkley Literature Festival; follow those guides for event information and practical visit details.
Does knowing the film mean I know all her writing?
Her work reaches into fantasy, psychological thrillers, folklore and other forms as well as the story familiar from the screen. The three reading suggestions below offer different routes into that range before a festival visit.
Should I read the new ghost story first?
Read it beforehand if you enjoy listening with its setting and voice fresh in mind. If you prefer to discover the story afterwards, you can still go with a curiosity about how Harris writes atmosphere and memory.
Can I attend without having read every book?
You can begin with one novel, a short story or an interest in a subject such as folklore. A festival conversation is a chance to spend time with a writer you enjoy, not a test of the backlist.
Where should I buy a festival ticket?
Use the festival links on Joanne Harris’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
