Joan Lennon

Joan Lennon became a full-time writer in 2007 and has recently had her twentieth novel published. She writes long and short fiction and poetry for children, young adults and adults. She has taught creative writing through Live Literature Scotland at primary and secondary schools, at Moniack Mhor writing centre, and as writer-in-residence for Blairgowrie, Rattray and the Glens. She has done many author events at a wide range of schools, libraries and literary festivals throughout Scotland and elsewhere in the UK.

Joan has a keen interest in collaborative work and has taken part in a number of projects with the writers’ collective 26 and Off the Rails Arthouse, producing poetry in response to museum artefacts, contemporary paintings, landscapes and photographs. Her poetry pamphlet Her Lines, My Lines (in collaboration with artist Kyla Tomlinson) was commissioned by the Bookmark Festival. Joan has edited and done the layout for several anthologies showcasing art, poetry and prose, and has been the judge for various writing competitions, including the Pushkin prize. She has been a Hawthornden Fellow, a Jessie Kesson Fellow and a Patron of Reading for Queensferry primary school.

Joan Lennon grew up in Ontario, Canada and moved to Scotland in 1978, working first for a year on Iona and then moving to St Andrews to study for a PhD in English literature. She has been a music teacher, teaching piano and music theory while her four sons were growing up. She now lives in the Kingdom of Fife, overlooking the River Tay.