The bestselling author of Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt, is being treated for cancer, his publisher said today.

McCourt, who won a Pulitzer prize for his portrayal of his poverty-ridden childhood in New York and Ireland in Angela's Ashes, is being treated for melanoma in New York, said Michelle Kane, publicity director at McCourt's publisher Fourth Estate.

McCourt's brother Malachy, also an author, told the Associated Press that the cancer was in remission, and that his brother was "a hearty fellow and he's survived worse than this". His agent Molly Friedrich added that McCourt was now at home in New York, where he is "doing pretty well" and going through chemotherapy.

The author of two other acclaimed memoirs which followed Angela's Ashes – 'Tis and Teacher Man, in which he details his years as a teacher in New York City – McCourt recently made his first venture into children's books with Angela and the Baby Jesus, which is based on an incident from the childhood of his mother Angela. He told the Observer at the end of 2007 that he was in the middle of writing his first novel, and was also planning a book for teenagers.