Joy is best known for editing Chapman Literary Magazine, mercilessly using it to help change the Scotland she was born into. Chapman focussed on new writing, but also became an important platform for discussion about Scotland’s cultural needs, especially in language, women in the arts, theatre and education. She is a poet, playwright, folk singer, public speaker, broadcaster, mover, shaker and general trouble maker, and is now concentrating on her own talents, mainly her poetry.She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from her alma mater, Edinburgh University, in 2005 for services to Scottish Culture.