J K Rowling
(born July 1965 - ) - Gloucestershire, now Edinburgh
Born Joanne Rowling in a village near Bristol in 1965, J K Rowling surely needs no introduction. Her story has been told countless times on TV, newspapers and on the internet - the story of a struggling single mother, writing in an Edinburgh cafe; the story of countless rejections for her first book, Philosopher's Stone, before it was eventually picked up by Bloomsbury; the story of a meteoric rise to celebrity; and the story of claims of plagiarism and theft, all unfounded.
Rowling studied French & Classics at Exeter University, and spent a year studying in Paris. After graduation, she worked in London for Amnesty International as a researcher. In 1990 she moved to Manchester to be with her then boyfriend, and it was on a delayed train from Manchester to London that the story of Harry Potter first came to her. Although she had been writing since she was six, she had never been published. In late 1990 her mother died of multiple sclerosis:
It was a terrible time. My father, Di and I were devastated; she was only forty five years old and we had never imagined - probably because we could not bear to contemplate the idea - that she could die so young. I remember feeling as though there was a paving slab pressing down upon my chest, a literal pain in my heart.
Following her mother's death, and to get away for a while, she moved to Portugal and taught English. She married journalist Jorge Arantes, the father of her first child Jessica. They later divorced, and Rowling moved to Edinburgh in 1993. Three years later Bloomsbury agreed to publish Philosopher's Stone. The final book in the Harry Potter series, The Deathly Hallows, was published in 2007.
JK Rowling married Dr Neil Murray in 2001, and they have two children together. She still lives in Edinburgh. She was awarded an OBE for services to children's literature in 2001.
Rowling has said that Harry Potter was always intended to be a seven-novel series, and no further books are planned. Her first non-Potter novel, The Casual Vacancy, was published in 2012.
Harry Potter Novels
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Add to BasketHarry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
£5.94
- Paperback - Bloomsbury
This is a follow up to 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. Harry Potter is in his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft, and this year promises to be just as eventful as the last. -
Add to BasketHarry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
£7.64
- Paperback - Bloomsbury
The holidays are dragging on and Harry Potter can't wait for the start of term. It is his fourth year at Hogwarts School and there are spells to be learnt and potions to be brewed, but there are other events on the march that Harry is not expecting. -
Add to BasketHarry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
£6.74
- Paperback - Bloomsbury
This novel takes up the story of Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as Voldemort's power and followers are increasing day by day, in the midst of the battle of good and evil. -
Add to BasketHarry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
£7.64
- Paperback - Bloomsbury
This novel by J. K. Rowling continues the further adventures of boy wizard Harry and his friends. Harry is due to start his fifth year at Hogwarts School, and what he is about to discover will turn his world upside down. -
Add to BasketHarry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
£5.94
- Paperback - Bloomsbury
Harry Potter thinks he is an ordinary boy - until he is rescued by a beetle-eyed giant of a man, enrols at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learns to play Quidditch and does battle in a deadly duel. -
Add to BasketHarry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban
£5.94
- Hardback - Bloomsbury
Harry Potter is a wizard in his third year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. With an escaped mass murderer on the loose, the school is being guarded by the prison guards of Azkaban.
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
- The Casual Vacancy - 2012
Other Harry Potter books
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Add to BasketFantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
£4.24
- Paperback - Bloomsbury
This text gives an extensive introduction to the magical beasts that exist in the magical, non-Muggle world. Beasts include the Hippogriff, Flobberworm, Kappa and Chizpurfles. -
Add to BasketQuidditch Through The Ages
£4.24
- Paperback - Bloomsbury
This text includes all of the information you could ever need to know about the history, the rules - and the breaking of the rules - of the noble wizarding sport of Quidditch.
- Quidditch Through the Ages - 1999
- Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them - 2001
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard - 2007
Books about J K Rowling and Harry Potter
- The Unauthorised Harry Potter Companion
- The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter - 2008
- J K Rowling: The Mystery of Fiction - 2011
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Add to BasketJ.K. Rowling: The Mystery Of Fiction
£5.09
- Paperback - Argyll
The titles in the 'Inspirations Series' includes themes from the worlds of sports, ideas, arts, politics, history, science, popular culture and even world faiths and philosophies. -
Add to BasketThe Unauthorised Harry Potter Companion
£11.04
- Paperback - Sutton
Duriez is a leading authority on Narnia and 'The Lord of the Rings'. In this book, he turns his attention to their modern equivalent, Harry Potter. He takes the works seriously as modern classics and places them not only in the tradition of children's literature but in the broader tradition of western literature and magic.
Adult Fiction
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Add to BasketThe Casual Vacancy
£17.00
- Hardback - Little, Brown
When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early 40s, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. The empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has ever seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?
The Harry Potter Series
Internet Links
Interviews
- January Magazine - October 2000
- AOL Live - October 2000
- BBC Newsnight - June 2003
- Press conference - July 2005
- Mugglenet interview - July 2005
- Dateline NBC - July 2005
- Hilary magazine interview
