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JK Rowling biography

Joanne Rowling, better known and indeed, EXTREMELY well known around the world as JK Rowling was born in the town of Yate, South Gloucestershire in 1965. She is the most successful literary author of all time and her world-famous Harry Potter series has so far sold a staggering 380,000,000 copies worldwide and has been translated into over sixty different languages.

JK Rowling went to the University of Exeter where she studied French and the Classics. After leaving university she worked for Amnesty International in London as a researcher and bilingual secretary.

JK Rowling wrote her first novel whilst living in Edinburgh where she moved to in 1994. She was living on state benefits at the time and the first Harry Potter novel was written in local cafes whilst her daughter, Jessica, slept. The completed manuscript was handed to 12 publishers who all rejected it. Luckily, one year later a small publishing company called Bloomsbury finally agreed to publish the book and Rowling was given a £1500 advance. An £8,000 grant from the Scottish Arts council also allowed her to continue writing. The following year, in the United States, Scholastic Inc. paid $100,000 for the rights to publish the Harry Potter novels in the US. The Rowling train has gathered speed and never slowed down since.

"Yeah pretty much actually. It's the flogged horse school of writing. The thing about the 600 words, I mean some day, you can do a very, very, very hard day's work and not write a word, just revising, or you would scribble a few words."
JK Rowling when asked by Jeremy Paxman about whether she wrote until exhaustion stopped her.

At the time of writing, six of the seven Harry Potter novels have been published and Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is due out in July 2007 and this will complete the series. The books have been turned into hugely successful films by Warner Bros and to date five of the books have made there way on to the silver screen.

Rowling has often talked about the inspiration behind Harry Potter. She was on a train between Manchester and London and spent four hour thinking about what Hogwarts would be like. By the end of the journey most of the main characters had been realised. In her own words - "I spent four hours thinking about what Hogwarts would be like - the most interesting train journey I've ever taken."

Rowling is a great donator to charity and in the future she intends to publish a Harry Potter encyclopedia with all profits going to charity. Coca-Cola were forced to give $18m to the American charity Reading is Fundamental in return for being allowed to rights to the movie tie-ins.

JK Rowling awards

Nestle Smarties Book Prize (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)
Children’s Book of the Year - British Book Awards (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)
Children’s Book Award (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)
JK Rowling has won the Hugo, Bram Stoker and Whitebread awards for the Harry Potter series.

JK Rowling records

Last 3 volumes of the Harry Potter series have been the fastest selling books in history.
Book 6 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the fastest selling book ever.
JK Rowling is the first person to win the Smarties Prize for literature 3 years in a row.
In the USA, each Harry Potter book reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

JK Rowling influences

Jane Austen - Rowling's all time favourite writer
Paul Gallico - writer of Manxmouse
C.S. Lewis - the Narnia Chronicles
Noel Streatfield

JK Rowling bibliography

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)

JK Rowling interviews

Jeremy Paxman, from the BBC, performed an exclusive Newsnight interview with J. K. Rowling. This is an intriguing interview and the normally savage Paxman pulls his claws in for the duration. The BBC interview with J. K. Rowling >>

In the first interview since the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J. K. Rowling explains why the end to the series was rather vague, or "nebulous" and "poetic" and what she plans to do next. J. K. Rowling interview with the TODAYshow.com >>

Stories from the Web interviews J. K. Rowling. A short but sweet in interview in which she talks about the inspirations behind her work, whether or not the characters are based on real people and where the names in the Harry Potter derive from. Stories from the Web interviews J. K. Rowling >>