Joyce Barkhouse

Born Joyce Killam in 1913, in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, the daughter of a "horse and buggy" doctor, Joyce Barkhouse was first published at the age of nineteen, when she was a teacher in a one room rural school. For many years her short stories appeared in magazines, school readers, newspapers and anthologies. Best known for her historical fiction for children, she achieved her greatest success with Pit Pony. A widow presently living in Bridgewater, she is the mother of two children, Murray and Janet, and has five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.  In 2007, Joyce was named to the Order of Nova Scotia, and in 2009, to the Order of Canada.

For more information about Joyce Barkhouse and Sable Island, see the Green Horse Society Webpage.

Selected List of Publications

Pit Pony. Gage Educational Publications, 1989. ISBN 0-7715-7023-6

Appeared as a CBC-TV movie by Cochran Entertainment, 1997;followed by a CBC-TV series, a sequel to the story of Pit Pony; 26 episodes.

In 2003 both movie and serial of Pit Pony were purchased by American company, Starz Encore Group, LLC. The films have been shown on several Starz channels in the United states. Also, Starz has released the Pit Pony movie on DVD.

Canadian Library Association Notable book.

Canadian Children's Book Centre Choice.

Shortlisted for The Geoffrey Bilson Award, The City of Dartmouth Fiction Award, and The Ebel Award.

Winner of the first Ann Connor Brimer Award.

As a choice of the Nova Scotia Library Association and thanks to a donation of the IODE, Pit Pony is available in Talking Book format. It is available free of charge to persons with a print disability across Nova Scotia, through the Regional Library. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind provides transcription services.

Llamb Productions has produced an audio book of Pit Pony, read by award-winning actor Richard Donat, which has been placed by the Nova Scotia Department of Education in all elementary school libraries in the province (2009).  It may be purchased by contacting Marcia Harding at pitponyaudiobook@hotmail.com.

The Little Giant, George Dawson (New Edition). Natural Heritage/Natural History, 1989. ISBN 920474-56-X

A Name for Himself: a Biography of Thomas Head Raddall (New Edition). Natural Heritage/Natural History, 1986. ISBN 0-7725-1566-2

"The Heroine of Lunenburg" in Windows and Mirrors. Prentice Hall, 1986. ISBN 0-13-960485-5

The Lorenzen Collection. M.C.S. Ventures Ltd., 1985. ISBN 0-9692387-0-3 (out of print)

The Witch of Port Lajoye. Ragweed Press, 1983. ISBN 0-920304-26-5 (out of print)      Canadian Children's Book Centre Choice.
     Canadian Library Association Notable Book.
     Translated in: Spanish, Catalan, Basque, and German (excerpted).

Abraham Gesner (part of a series called "The Canadians"). Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1980. ISBN 0-888902-673-4 (out of print)

Anna's Pet (with Margaret Atwood). James Lorimer, 1980. ISBN 0-88862-250-3

George Dawson, The Little Giant. Clarke Irwin, 1974. ISBN 0-7720-0734-9

Smallest Rabbit; Illustrated by Barbara Martin. Lancelot Press, 1996. ISBN 0-88999-603-2 (Now available through Nimbus)

Selected List of Productions

Anna's Pet was produced as a puppet play by the Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, which toured nationally and internationally.

See also: Pit Pony (above)

Awards

• Member, Order of Canada, 2009
• Member, Order of Nova Scotia, 2007
• Honourary life member of The Writers' Union of Canada.
• Honourary life member of The Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia.
• The annual prize in the Writing for Children category of the Atlantic Writing Competition was renamed The Joyce Barkhouse Writing for Children Award.
• Lifetime Achievement Award, South Shore Literary Club, 2003.
• Ann Connor Brimer Award, Nova Scotia Library Association, 1991.
• Valuable Contribution to Children's Literature Award, Nova Scotia Children's Literature Roundtable, 1990.
• Marianna Dempster Memorial Award, Canadian Authors Association, 1989.
• Cultural Life Award for outstanding service to the cultural life of Nova Scotia, 1982.
• First prize, Children's Fiction, Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia, 1979.

The papers of Joyce Barkhouse have been donated to the Dalhousie University Archives. The Barkhouse material is extensive. Drafts of novels, biographical and geographical research, correspondance with writers, galleys and illustrations comprise the collection. The manuscripts and miscellany of Joyce Barkhouse can be viewed at the Dalhousie Archives, fifth floor, Killam Library.

For more information and for a further description of the Manuscript collection, please call: 902 494 6490

You can send mail to Joyce Barkhouse
c/o Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia