Joan Clark

Joan Clark BA, D.Litt (hon.) (née MacDonald)is a Canadian fiction author.

Born in Liverpool, Nova Scotia, Clark spent her youth in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. She attended Acadia University for its drama program, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree with English major in 1957.[1] She has worked as a teacher

Clark lived in Alberta for two decades and attended Edmonton's University of Alberta. She and Edna Alford started the literary journal Dandelion in that province in the mid-1970s. She eventually returned to Atlantic Canada, settling in Newfoundland.

Joan Clark's early work consisted primarily of literature for children and young adults, such as Girl of the Rockies (1968), The Hand of Robin Squires (1977), and The Moons of Madeleine (1987). By contrast, her 1982 short-story collection, From a High Thin Wire, is a decidedly mature and sometimes sexually charged work. This volume was revisited by Clark and republished with revisions in 2004. Clark has a reputation for continuously revising her works even after their initial printing.

Joan Clark's next publication for adult readers was The Victory of Geraldine Gull (1988), a novel examining the clashes of culture and religion between Cree, Ojibwa, and white communities in Niska, a village in Hudson Bay. The Victory of Geraldine Gull was a finalist for the GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD and the Books in Canada First Novel Award. Clark published a second collection of short stories, Swimming Towards the Light, in 1990. The following year she was presented with the Marian Engel Award, recognizing her entire body of work.

Eiriksdottir: A Tale of Dreams and Luck (1993) was the first of two novels by Clark based on the Viking presence in Newfoundland. The novel focuses on Freydis Eiriksdottir, daughter of Eirik the Red and sister to Leif ("The Lucky") Eirikson. The Dream Carvers (1995) follows the adventures of Thrand, a Norse child.

Clark wrote her first published novel as a young stay-at-home mother, writing in longhand during her infant son’s naptimes. “I had never written fiction before and was amazed that I had been walking around without knowing that there was a story inside my head. That joy of discovery has kept me writing ever since.”

Clark served on the jury at the 2001 Giller Prize.

Clark lives in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.