Joanne Rowling was born in July 1965 at Yate General Hospital in England and grew up in

Chepstow, Gwent where she went to Wyedean Comprehensive.

Jo left Chepstow for Exeter University, where she earned a French and Classics degree, her
course including one year in Paris. As a postgraduate she moved to London and worked as a
researcher at Amnesty International among other jobs. She started writing the Harry Potter
series during a delayed Manchester to London Kings Cross train journey, and during the next
five years, outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first novel.
Jo then moved to northern Portugal, where she taught English as a foreign language. She
married in October 1992 and gave birth to a daughter in 1993. When the marriage ended, she
and Jessica returned to the UK to live in Edinburgh, where Harry Potter & the Philosophers
Stone was eventually completed.
While struggling to support Jessica and herself on welfare, Rowling wrote another series of
Harry Potter, the idea for witch had reportedly occurred to her while she was traveling on a
train from Manchester to London in 1990. After a number of rejections, she finally sold the
book. The book was first published by Bloomsbury Childrens Books in June 1997, under the
name J.K. Rowling. The K, for Kathleen, her paternal grandmothers name was added at
her publishers request who thought that a womans name would not appeal to the target
audience of young boys.
The second title in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in
July 1998 and was No. 1 in the adult hardback bestseller charts for a month after
publication.Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published on 8th July 1999 to
worldwide .

Joanne Rowling was born in Chipping Sodury, July 31st 1965. Her childhood was
generally happy, although she does remember getting teased because of her name, Rowling.
She recalls often getting called Rowling pin by her less than ingenious school friends. J.K.
Rowling says she never really warmed to her own name, although, she does remember having
a fondness for the name Potter from quite an early age. J.K.Rowling studied at St Michaels
Primary School in Gloucestershire, before moving to Chepstow, South Wales at the age of
nine.
From an early age, J.K. Rowling had an ambition to be a writer. She often tried her
hand at writing, although little came from her early efforts. Even on aged six she wrote a
book about a rabbit with measles. In her own autobiography she remembers with great
fondness, when her good friend Sean became the first person to give her the confidence that
one day she would be able to make a very good book. Sean was also the owner of a battered
old Ford Anglia, which would later appear in one of the Harry Potter series as a flying car.
After finishing school, her parents encouraged her to study French at the University of
Exeter. She slightly regretted choosing French, saying she would have preferred to study
English. However, it was her parents wish that she study something more useful than
English.
After having spent a year in Paris, J.K.Rowling graduated from university and took
various jobs in London. One of her favourite jobs was working for Amnesty International; the
charity, which campaigns against human rights abuses throughout the world. Amnesty
International, is one of the many charities, which J.K.Rowling has generously supported since
she attained a new found wealth.
It was in 1990, that J.K.Rowling first conceived of the idea about Harry Potter. As she
recalls, it was on a long train journey from Manchester to London when she began forming in

her mind, the characters of the series. At the forefront, was a young boy, at that time not
aware that he was a wizard. The train was delayed for over four hours, but she didnt have a
pen and was too shy to ask for one nothing, But she remembers being very enthusiastic, and
excited about the ideas which were filling her mind. On arriving at her flat in Clapham
Junction, she began work on writing the book immediately, although, it would take several
years to come to fruition.
It was also in December of 1990 that J.K.Rowling lost her mother, who died of
Multiple Sclerosis. J.K.Rowling was very close to her mother, and she felt the loss deeply.
Her own loss gave an added poignancy to the death of Harry Potters mother in her book. She
says her favourite scene in the Philosophers Stone is, The Mirror of Erised, where Harry sees
his parents in the mirror.
In 1991, J.K.Rowling left England to get a job as an English teacher in Portugal. It
was here that she met her first husband, Jorge Arantes and together they had a child Jessica.
However, after a couple of years, the couple split after a fierce argument; where by all
accounts J.K.Rowling was thrown out of the house.
In December 1993, Rowling returned to the UK, moving to Edinburgh where she tried
to finish her first book. She was surviving on state benefits and bringing up her daughter as a
single parent. She would often go to Edinburgh cafes to work on the book whilst her child
had a nap.
Eventually, she finished her first copy of the Philosophers Stone, and sent it off to
various agents. She found an agent, Christopher, who spent over a year trying to get a
publisher. It was rejected by 12 major publishing houses. But, eventually, a quite small
publisher, Bloomsbury agreed to take the book on. The editor Barry Cunningham also agreed
to pay her an advance of 1500. The decision to take on the book was, in large part, due to his
eight year old daughters enthusiastic reception of the first chapter (However she was advised
to continue her training as a teacher because she was told writers of childrens books dont
tend to get very well paid.)
Within a few weeks of publication, (1996) book sales really started to take off. The
initial print run was of only 1,000 500 of which went to libraries. First editions are now said
to be worth up to 25,000 each. She also received a grant from the Scottish arts council,
which enabled her to write full time. After the books initial success in the UK, an American
company Scholastic agreed to pay a remarkable 100,000 for the rights to publish in
America. In 1998, Warner Bros secured the film rights for the books, giving a seven figure
sum. The films have magnified the success of the books, making Harry Potter into one of the

most recognisable media products. Under the close guidance of J.K.Rowling, the films have
sought to stay close to the original plot; also at J.K.Rowlings request all the actors are British
and are filmed in Britain.
On the 21st December 2006, J.K.Rowling finished her final book of the Harry Potter
Series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The book was released in July 2007,
becoming one of the fastest selling books of all time. J.K.Rowling has said the book is her
favourite, and it makes her both happy and sad. She has said she will continue writing but
there is little chance of continuing the Harry Potter Series. She however, may release a
dictionary of things related to Hogwarts and Harry Potter, that were never published in other
books.
Since the end of her Harry Potter series, she says she has finished some short stories,
she also hinted on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1st October, 2010, that an 8th book in the
Harry Potter series is a possibility.
On 27 September 2012, Rowling released the Casual Vacancy an adult novel. In
2013, The Cuckoos Calling was published. Initially, the author was stated as being Robert
Galbraith. But, this was a pseudonym used by J.K.Rowling. After her authorship was
discovered, sales went through the roof.
J.K.Rowling has sought to protect her children from media intrusion. In 2011, she
gave testimony to the Leverson enquiry about how unscrupulous reporters sought to intrude
into her familys privacy. After her books became best-sellers, reporters would often be
camped outside her home. J.K. Rowling said:
However, as interest in Harry Potter and myself increased, my family and I
became the target of a different kind of journalistic activity. The effect on
me, and our family life, truly cannot be overstated. We were literally driven
out of the first house I had ever owned (which faced almost directly onto
the street) because of journalists banging on the door, questioning the
neighbours and sitting in parked cars immediately outside the gate. Old friendships were
tested as journalists turned up on their doorsteps, and
offered money for stories on me. (J.K.Rowlings Testimony to Leveson Enquiry Nov 2011.)
After finding a letter from a journalist in her childs satchel, she remarked:
Its very difficult to say how angry I felt that my 5-year-old daughters school was no longer
a place of complete security from journalists.
J.K.Rowling currently lives in Scotland, on the banks of the river Tay, with her 2nd husband
Neil Murray; J.K.Rowling has 3 children, two with husband Neil.

Wealth of J.K.Rowling
In 2011, her estimated wealth stands at 530 million, according to Sunday Times Rich List.
The global Harry Potter brand is estimated to be worth 7 billion.
Charity Work of J.K.Rowling
J.K.Rowling has contributed considerable sums to charities she supports. This includes:

Anti-Poverty. She is President of the Charity One Parent Families

Multiple sclerosis. She has contributed money to the research and treatment of
Multiple Sclerosis, which her mother suffered from.

Lumos - helping institutionalised children in Eastern Europe

Political Views
She has publically supported the Labour party. In 2008, she donated 1 million to the Labour
party, saying she felt vulnerable families would be better off under a Labour government. She
describes her political hero as Robert F.Kennedy.
Religious Views
J.K.Rowling states that she considers herself a Christian, and attends a local Church of
Scotland congregation. She said, that unlike other members in her family, she often had a
deep interest in religion, and would go to churches alone. However, she also says that
although she believes in God, at times she doubts her faith.
I feel very drawn to religion, but at the same time I feel a lot of uncertainty. I live in a state
of spiritual flux. I believe in the permanence of the soul.
J.K.Rowling (2008, interview in El Pais a Spanish Newspaper)