Joanne C. Hillhouse/jhohadli (b. 1973) is a writer from Antigua-Barbuda in the Caribbean – a self-described #gyalfromOttosAntigua.
In 2023, Joanne was named the Anthony N. Sabga Awards for Caribbean Excellence arts and letters laureate – a first for her country. Among other accolades, she became, in 2025, the first Antiguan and Barbudan writer shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize; won awards for excellence in reporting on art and culture, 2025, and the People’s Choice award, 2023, from the Caribbean Broadcasting Union’s Caribbean Media Awards for her independent art and culture column CREATIVE SPACE; served as Intersect Antigua-Barbuda’s inaugural Artist-in-Residence in 2024; and was selected, in 2024, for a Bridget Jones Award from the Society for Caribbean Studies and presented her writing at its annual conference.
Joanne has (up to 2025) eight published books of fiction – four of them children’s picture books. The most recent of these, To be a Cheetah, a collaboration with local artist Zavian Archibald, was released in 2023. Her previous children’s books are With Grace, Lost! A Caribbean Sea Adventure, and The Jungle Outside. Her other books include self-published poetry collection On Becoming, teen/young adult novel Musical Youth which was a Burt award winning title and starred top Kirkus Indie of 2020; bildungsroman The Boy from Willow Bend – which, along with Musical Youth has spent years on Caribbean schools reading lists; and in the adult contemporary category Dancing Nude in the Moonlight and Oh Gad! – the latter a Weekend Reads recommendation on NPR.
Other published writing include poetry, fiction, and non-fiction in journals and anthologies, . Most recently, in 2025, Joanne has a chapter in Lost & Found: An A to Z of Neglected Writers of the Anglophone Caribbean and a poem of her appeared in Poetry Maps an art installation and publication out of Malta. Her story “Amelia at Devil’s Bridge” from Pepperpot: Best New Stories of the Caribbean has been taught/studied at educational institutions in the Caribbean and US, and excerpted in the Harper Collins English A CSEC revision guide. Her story “Evening Ritual”, published in the 2020 NAACP Image Award nominated New Daughters of Africa, was excerpted in abridged German anthology Neue Töchter Afrikas in 2023.
Joanne has repped the #268 at lit events around the world including in the Caribbean, South America, UK and Scotland, US, Canada, and UAE. She has served as a judge of local competitions like the Independence literary arts competition and Wadadli Pen Challenge, regional competitions like the Burt Award, and international competititions like the Commonwealth Essay Competition, among other prizes. Lit Hub named her in 2018 as one of ’10 Female Caribbean Authors You Should Know (And Add To Your American Lit Syllabus)’.
Joanne works independently as a writer, editor, and workshop/course facilitator. She is also an arts and culture advocate and commentator, and book blogger. Her CMA and OECS winning CREATIVE SPACE series was a newspaper column for five years before becoming exclusively online and transitioned to a reader-funding model; as of 2026, available for early access on her patreon and archived on the CREATIVE SPACE platform. Related videos are uploaded to the CREATIVE SPACE playlist on Antiguan Writer on YouTube. Joanne also writes about books she’s read in her online Blogger on Books series. Her literacy and lit arts activities have included volunteering as a reader with the Cushion Club for children, and founding development prograammes like the Jhohadli Summer Youth Writing Project/Jhohadli Writing Project workshop series and Wadadli Pen, the programme she launched in 2004 and which evolved into a non-profit to nurture and showcase the literary arts in Antigua and Barbuda.
Joanne has written for Essence magazine, Huffington Post, Writer’s Digest, Publisher’s Weekly, Caribbean Beat, and other publications; and written and/or edited books (fiction and non-fiction) and other content – including internal and external corporate communications, marketing content for commercial entities, and social marketing content for non-profits.
She has worked (as writer, producer) on film and TV projects, and taught written communication at tertiary institutions, in addition to independent adult classes and commissioned staff training.
Joanne graduated with a degree in Mass Communication from the University of the West Indies and has participated in creative writing classes and workshops over the years, notably at the UWI during undergrad, and, as a fellowship recipient, at University of Miami (Caribbean Fiction Writers Summer Institute), Middlebury College (Breadloaf Writers Conference), and Brown University (Texas A & M Callaloo Writers Conference). She has been sponsored by Commonwealth Writers for participation in editing and writing workshops, in Guyana (through Carib Lit) and Barbados.
See also AntiguanWriter YouTube channel
Networked for where else you can find Joanne online
jhohadli