My name is Joan.

I was born in beautiful, landlocked Zambia and grew up there, first in a remote village and then in a small mining town. We moved when I was twelve to Vanuatu – a chain of magical islands in the South West Pacific. I have also lived with dragons (otherwise known as housemistresses) at boarding school, monks in India and alongside real-life pirates in Nigeria. You can now find me in the Scottish hills with my cats and other family.

I write fiction and non-fiction, and I lead university courses in ethnographic writing, travel writing, and narrative non-fiction. I was a 2022 Author in Residence for the Scottish Book Trust at a school in Aberdeen, and I love running workshops in schools.

I am proud to publish with independent publishers. Cranachan Publishing is a small Scottish press based on the Outer Hebrides. Templar is an imprint of Bonnier Books, an international (and carbon negative) publisher.