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Joyce Barkhouse

Author

11-76 Elm St.
Bridgewater, NS
B4V 2V4
Phone: (902) 543-1633

Born: May 3, 1913. Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia
Married to Milton Barkhouse. Widowed. Two children, five grandchildren.

Biography

Although her first short story was published when she was only 19, and she's been writing ever since, Joyce did not have a full-length book published until she was a grandmother. She has lived in Montréal and Charlottetown but now spends her winters in an apartment in Halifax and her summers in a cottage-on-the-cliff which overlooks the Bay of Fundy.

Her love of Nova Scotia and her concern for the "forgotten" are reflected in her writings. She is the author of many short stories and articles which have been published in anthologies, school textbooks and periodicals, in Canada and the United States. She has talked to thousands of school children and has toured in Manitoba, Ontario and Prince Edward Island, sponsored by the Cananda Council and the Canandian Children's Book Centre. Adult work includes The Lorenzen Collection (Nova Scotia ceramic mushrooms) and For Mothers and Others, a weekly column in Nova Scotia newspapers (1973-76).

Joyce Barkhouse's working papers and related materials have been donated to the Dalhousie University Archives (1960-1998).

Published Works

Abraham Gezner, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1980
Anna's Pet (with Margaret Atwood, ill. Ann Blades), Lorimer, 1980
The Witch of Port LaJoye, Ragweed, 1983 (Spanish and Catalan translations by Pirene)
"The Heroine of Lunenberg" Press Porcépic, Gage, Prentice-Hall, 1981-88
George Dawson, The Little Giant, Natural Heritage/Natural History, 1990
A Name for Himself: A Biography of Thomas Head Raddall, Natural Heritage/Natural History, 1990
Pit Pony, Gage, 1990
Yesterday's Children, Lancleot Press, 1992
"Wiskijek and Henri" in Ordinary People in Canada's Past, Arnold, 1990
Smallest Rabbit, Lancelot Press, 1996

Awards

The Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia, 1979, first prize for children's fiction
Cultural Life Award, Cultural Federations of Nova Scotia, 1982
Marianna Dempster Memorial Award for a body of writing by a Nova Scotian author, N.S. Branch of CAA, 1989

Three books by Joyce Barkhouse have been named as notables by the Canadian Library Association (outstanding contribution to Canandian Literature): George Dawson, The Little Giant; The Witch of Port LaJoye; and Pit Pony

The first Ann Connor Brimer Award was given to Pit Pony in 1991 "for outstanding contribution to Children's Literature in Atlantic Canada"

Pit Pony was the unanimous choice of Nova Scotian Librarians to be produced as a Talking Book for the CNIB, with funds donated by the IODE, for national and international distribution.

As a CBC-TV movie, created by Cochran Entertainment, Pit Pony was aired in 1997. The movie was the winner of three Gemini Awards. Following this success, Pit Pony became a 44-episode CBC-TV series, produced by Cochran Entertainment.

Pit Pony has its own website: www.pitpony.com

Other Memberships

Honourary Life Membership in The Writers' Union of Canada
Honourary Life Membership in The Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia
PEN International
IBBY