J.K. Rowling Biography
Author J.K. RowlingIf you haven't heard of J.K. Rowling, you live under a rock. She is one of the most popular writers of the past few years thanks to her Harry Potter series. But, life wasn't always magical for Joanne Kathleen Rowling. She's had some tough times but she never gave up on her writing.
J.K. Rowling's Harry PotterJ.K.Rowling's Beginnings
Born in Chepstow, Gwent in 1965, J.K. Rowling's
favorite subjects in school were English and languages. J.K. went to
Exeter University, worked as a secretary and as a teacher, but then fell on hard times. She and her husband
divorced shortly after the birth of their daughter and J.K. Rowling ended up
unemployed and living in a tiny flat in Edinburgh with her only child. Of course, maybe it wasn't all bad because it was during this time that she wrote
Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone. The idea for the book came to J.K. Rowling while on a
train ride. She said that she really liked the idea of creating a place where a child could have power, like Hogswarts (School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.)
J.K. Rowling Gets Published
Bloomsbury Publishing bought
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (published in England as
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone) in 1997 and it was an instant success.
Sorcerer's Stone won The British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year and the Smarties Prize and received
rave reviews around the world. Since then there have been three more Harry tales -
The Chamber of Secrets,
The Prisoner of Azkaban,
The Goblet of Fire and the massive
Order of the Phoenix. J.K. Rowling has plans to write a book for each of the 7 years that Harry Potter is at
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Warner Brothers has the rights to a lot of the books and has already made a bunch of
successful flicks.
J.K. Rowling - Did U Know?
The Scottish Arts Council gave her a grant to finish the first book.
J.K. Rowling named Harry Potter after a childhood friend, Ian Potter.
She writes all of her books by hand. Ouch! She must have been pretty tired by the end of Order of the Phoenix.
When asked what mommies do, J.K. Rowling's daughter once replied, "Mommies write!"
J.K. Rowling Says
"My first book was called
Rabbit and I was about six, and I haven't stopped scribbling since."
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