Joanna Pocock

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Joanna Pocock is an Irish-Canadian writer and filmmaker, best known for her 2019 book length essay, Surrender.

Contents

Life

Pocock is originally from Alta Vista, Ottawa. [1] Her family has roots in Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland. [2]

She moved to Toronto at age 17, where she studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design. [1] After graduating, she worked as an illustrator and a designer. [2] At Books in Canada, she won an award for the redesign of the organisation's magazine. [1] She also lived in New York and Boston for short periods. [2]

She then moved to Great Britain where she met her husband. [1] She gained an MA in creative writing from Bath Spa University and taught creative writing at Central St Martins in London. [3]

She currently lives in London where she teaches prose fiction and narrative non-fiction at the University of the Arts and works as a freelance copy editor. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Career

In 2010, Pocock produced the documentary Road to Las Vegas.[ citation needed ]

In 2017, she was shortlisted for the Barry Lopez Narrative Nonfiction Prize. [6]

In 2018, Pocock won the Fitzcarraldo Editions Essay Prize for her book length essay Surrender. [8] [9] The book, which detailed Pocock's time living in the American West as well as reflections on the community and land, was published by Fitzcarraldo Editions in the UK and House of Anansi Press in Canada and the US.

In 2021 she was awarded the Arts Foundation’s Environmental Writing Fellowship. [10] [11]

Pocock has continued to write essays mixing memoir with observations on culture, class and nature. [12]

In August 2025, Fitzcarraldo Editions published Greyhound, Pocock's account of two bus journeys across America, the first in 2006 and the second in 2023. [13]

Her writing has also appeared in Dazed & Confused, Granta Online, Los Angeles Times, The Nation, Orion Magazine, Tank, 3:AM and the Dark Mountain online edition. [4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Robb, Peter (23 December 2019). "Joanna Pocock's sweet surrender to the siren call of the wild west". Arts File. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 "Journey to the End of the World with Joanna Pocock". 3:AM Magazine. 3 Aug 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  3. ↑ Pocock, Joanna (12 March 2013). "Feature Film: For Ellen". Litro. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Joanna Pocock". Arvon Foundation. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  5. ↑ "Joanna Pocock". The Dark Mountain Project. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  6. 1 2 "Joanna Pocock". JStor Daily. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  7. ↑ "Joanna Pocock". LinkedIn. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Surrender". Fitzcarraldo Editions. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Surrender by Joanna Pocock: toes the thin line between beauty and horror wonderfully". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2024-05-31.
  10. ↑ "Joanna Pocock". Fitzcarraldo Editions. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  11. ↑ "Joanna Pocock's Testimonial". The Arts Foundation. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  12. ↑ Pocock, Joanna. "A beautiful, broken America: what I learned on a 2,800-mile bus ride from Detroit to LA" . Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  13. ↑ Peirson-Hagger, Ellen (3 Aug 2025). "A window on to American decline". The Observer. Retrieved 14 August 2025.


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