Born in 1968, Julie Barlow grew up in Hamilton Ontario and began working as a magazine journalist in 1995. Her articles have appeared in magazines and newspapers in Canada the US and Europe, including The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor and the Courier international. Julie learned French in her early 20s and since 1996 has been a regular contributor to Canada’s French language news magazine L’actualité, where she writes on topics ranging from business and food to mental health and immigration. Her work recently won four Honorary Mentions at Canada’s National Magazine Awards and the Quebec Magazine Awards.

In 2003 she published Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong with her husband and writing partner Jean-Benoît Nadeau. The book, translated into French (Pas si fous ces français, Seuil), Dutch and Chinese, was praised in the Wall Street Journal, The Daily Telegraph, Le Monde and Libération and has sold roughly 250 000 copies worldwide. In the fall of 2006, the couple published their second book together, The Story of French, in Canada, the US and the UK (see Reviews). The New York Times called it "a well-told, highly accessible history of the French language" and the Montreal Gazette called it "mind-altering."

Julie holds a B.A. in Political Science from McGill University and an M.A. in English Literature from Concordia University. She speaks and writes English and French, speaks Spanish and has studied Arabic. An avid traveler, she has visited and traveled in countries in Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and North and Central America. She lived in France from 1999 to 2001 and now lives in Montreal with her husband, writer Jean-Benoit Nadeau and their two daughters .

In 2004 Julie published a travel guide on Montreal and Quebec City in the famous “For Dummies” series. She also worked as Editor at Montreal publishing company Les Éditions Ma Carrière (now Jobboom).

Julie speaks frequently on the topic of France and the French language for universities and associations in Canada, the US, France and Europe. She also gives seminars on non-fiction writing for writing associations. Long interested in refugee and immigration issues, she is a board member of Action Réfugiés Montréal, and is presently working with Israeli conflict resolution expert Edy Kaufman on his memoirs, tentatively titled Common Ground.