Rachel Joyce
Illustration — Rachel Joyce Rachel Joyce (born 1962) is a British writer. She has written plays for BBC Radio 4, and jointly won the 2007 Tinniswood Award for her radio play To Be a Pilgrim. Her debut novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, was on the longlist for the 2012 Man Booker Prize, and in December 2012 she was awarded the "New Writer of the Year" award by the National Book Awards for this book.
Rachel Joyce
Zen1thnl · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1962 · Greater London.
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- actress · writer · screenwriter · novelist · playwright
- Known for
- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
- Honours
- Tinniswood Award
- Languages
- English
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wikidata · Q4846313
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Theatre
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (book of stage musical, based on the novel) - opened in May 2025 at Minerva Theatre, Chichester
Books
She had an earlier career as an actress, and has said that between her first writing ambitions aged 14 and the writing of her first novel she was "a young woman, a mother, an actress, a writer of radio drama - not to mention a terrible waitress in a wine bar, a door-to-door sales girl for one morning, and an assistant in a souvenir shop". She is married to actor Paul Venables, and lives in Gloucestershire with her husband and four children. She is the sister of actress Emily Joyce.
Documentary record
Gloucestershire is recorded as a place of activity by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
• The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2012, Doubleday) • Perfect (2013, Doubleday) • The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy (2014, Doubleday) • A Snow Garden and Other Stories (2015, Doubleday) • The Music Shop (2017, Doubleday) • Miss Benson's Beetle (11 June 2020, Penguin) • Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North (20 October 2022, Doubleday)
Documentary record
Rachel Joyce, recorded as a writer and actress, was born in 1962 in London. The birth is recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Awards
• Tinniswood Award, 2007 (joint award), for To Be A Pilgrim • French Literary Award ("Prix Littéraire des Jeunes Européens, 2014 France) for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry • Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, 2021, for Miss Benson's Beetle
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Rachel Joyce (writer), revision 1374145873 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.About Rachel Joyce.
- 2.Society of Authors. Previous Tinniswood Award winners.
- 3.The Booker Prizes. 2012 longlist announced. 25 July 2012.
- 4.Alison Flood. EL James comes out on top at National Book awards. The Guardian. 5 December 2012.
- 5.Royal Shakespeare Company. In focus: Steven Pimlott 1996.
- 6.Penguin. Author Rachel Joyce on the significance of new beginnings. 12 October 2016.
- 7.Rachel Joyce: my unexpected followup to The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. The Guardian. 28 July 2015.
- 8.Penguin books. Rachel Joyce.
- 9.Penguin Books. Miss Benson's Beetle: Rachel Joyce.
- 10.Pre-order Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North.
- 11.The Society of Authors. Past winners [Tinniswood Award]. 9 May 2020.
- 12.Joyce wins £10,000 Wilbur Smith prize for Miss Benson's Beetle. Books+Publishing. 2021-09-20.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 21 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Rachel HartmanAuthor
- Rachel HilsonAuthor
- Rachel JevonAuthor
- Rachel JohnsonAuthor
- Rachel KornAuthor
- Rachel LeclercAuthor
- Rachel McCarthyAuthor
- Rachel McKibbensAuthor
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