Joan Barfoot

Born on May 17, 1946, Joan Barfoot spent her first 18 years on a “thin-soiled, gorgeous, rocky farm just outside the small city” of Owen Sound, Ontario, situated on Georgian Bay. Her career in letters was facilitated in part by a degree in English from the University of Western Ontario, where she developed an interest in journalism. Barfoot has been writing novels since the late 1970's, though she spent a number of years in the publishing industry as an editor and reporter for several newspapers, including the Toronto Star. The time she spent as a reporter and editor, according to her, “was perfect preparation for fiction.” For Barfoot, the world of fiction opened possibilities seemingly not allowed by the structure of journalism, stating, “one of the great virtues of fiction is that you can get facts from the media, at least you hope so, but truth is a whole different category.” Like most writers, she is deeply influenced by both her geographical and familial heritages. She cites the austerity of her Scottish Presbyterian upbringing and their choice of a harsh landscape as being “fundamental to [her],” though her stories do not necessarily take place there. Nevertheless, she has been grouped into a collection of writers whose body of work is sometimes referred to as Southern Ontario Gothic. She also belongs to a generation of writers like Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro, and her fiction has been similarly celebrated. She has been listed for both the Man Booker and Trillium Prizes and won the Marian Engel award in 1992.

Bibliography
Abra (1978)
Gaining Ground (1980)
Dancing in the Dark (1982)
Duet for Three (1986)
Family News (1989)
Plain Jane (1992)
Charlotte and Claudia Keeping in Touch (1994)
Some Things About Flying (1997)
Getting Over Edgar (1999)
Critical Injuries (2001)
Luck (2005)
Exit Lines (2008)

Awards and Prizes
Marian Engel Award (1992)