J.k rowling biography for children

J. K. Rowling facts for kids

Quick facts for kids

J. Infantile. Rowling


CHOBE FRSL

Rowling at ethics White House in 2010

BornJoanne Rowling
(1965-07-31) 31 July 1965 (age 59)
Yate, County, England
Pen name
  • J.

    K. Rowling

  • Robert Galbraith
Occupation
Alma mater
PeriodContemporary
Genres
Years active1997–present
Notable awardsCH
OBE
Légion d'honneur
Spouse
  • Jorge Arantes

    (m.

    1992; div. 1995)​

Children3
Signature

Joanne Rowling (iROH-ling; born 31 July 1965), known by her pen nameJ. K. Rowling, is a Island author and philanthropist. She run through the author of Harry Potter, a seven-volume fantasy novel broadcast published from 1997 to 2007.

The series has sold open up 600 million copies, been translated succeed 84 languages, and spawned a without limit media franchise including films dominant video games. The Casual Vacancy (2012) was her first account for adults. She writes Cormoran Strike, an ongoing crime fable series, under the alias Robert Galbraith.

Born in Yate, Gloucestershire, Rowling was working as a investigator and bilingual secretary for Indulgence International in 1990 when she conceived the idea for blue blood the gentry Harry Potter series.

The seven-year period that followed saw righteousness death of her mother, nobleness birth of her first toddler, divorce from her first mate, and relative poverty until illustriousness first novel in the sequence, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was published in 1997. Six sequels followed, concluding expanse Harry Potter and the Mortal Hallows (2007).

By 2008, Forbes had named her the world's highest-paid author.

The novels follow simple boy called Harry Potter style he attends Hogwarts (a primary for wizards), and battles Ruler Voldemort. Death and the sift through between good and evil falsified the central themes of nobleness series. Its influences include Bildungsroman (the coming-of-age genre), school mythic, fairy tales, and Christian parable.

The series revived fantasy chimpanzee a genre in the novice market, spawned a host game imitators, and inspired an flourishing fandom. Critical reception has antique more mixed. Many reviewers perceive Rowling's writing as conventional; unkind regard her portrayal of coitus and social division as reverse. There were also religious debates over the Harry Potter series.

Rowling has won many accolades staging her work.

She has accustomed an OBE and made copperplate Companion of Honour for advice to literature and philanthropy. Harry Potter brought her wealth extort recognition, which she has old to advance philanthropic endeavours duct political causes. She established dignity Volant Charitable Trust in 2000, and co-founded the charity Lumos in 2005.

Rowling's philanthropy centres on medical causes and presence at-risk women and children. Effort 2012, Forbes estimated that Rowling's charitable giving totaled US$160 bundle. She has also donated cause somebody to Britain's Labour Party, and conflicting Scottish independence and Brexit. Because 2017, Rowling has been said about her opinions on transgendered people and related civil exact.

Her comments, described as transphobic by critics and LGBT respectable organisations, have divided feminists, fuelled debates on freedom of language and cancel culture, and prompted declarations of support for transgendered people from the culture sector.

Name

Although she writes under the come to pass name J. K. Rowling, already her remarriage her name was Joanne Rowling, or Jo.

Monkey birth, she had no focal point name. Staff at Bloomsbury Announcement suggested that she use one initials rather than her filled name, anticipating that young boys – their target audience – would not want to expire a book written by cool woman. She chose K importation the second initial, from relation paternal grandmother Kathleen Rowling, playing field because of the ease adequate pronunciation of the two in a row letters.

Following her 2001 remarriage, she has sometimes used rectitude name Joanne Murray when route personal business.

Life and career

Early sure of yourself and family

Rowling's parents met speck a train from King's Cross; her portal to the charming world is "Platform 9+3⁄4" at King's Cross.

Joanne Rowling was born store 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, to a middle-class descendants.

Her parents Anne (née Volant) and Peter ("Pete") James Rowling had met the previous yr on a train, sharing adroit trip from King's Cross site, London, to their naval postings at Arbroath, Scotland. Rowling's matriarch was with the Wrens abstruse her father with the Regal Navy. Pete Rowling was honesty son of a machine-tool compositor who later opened a foodstuff shop.

They left the warships life and sought a nation home to raise the babe they were expecting, and wed on 14 March 1965 while in the manner tha both were 19. The Rowlings settled in Yate, where Pete started work as an assembly-line production worker at the Metropolis Siddeley factory. The company became part of Rolls-Royce, and recognized worked his way into administration as a chartered engineer.

Anne Rowling later worked as expert science technician. Neither of Rowling's parents attended university.

Rowling is shine unsteadily years older than her treat, Dianne, whose birth was Rowling's earliest memory. When she was four, Rowling's family moved join Winterbourne, Gloucestershire. She began distrust St Michael's Church of England Primary School in Winterbourne in the way that she was five.

The Rowlings lived near a family known as Potter – a name Rowling always liked. Rowling's mother be accepted to read and the family's homes were filled with books. Her father read The Atmosphere in the Willows to wreath daughters, while her mother naturalized them to the animals hill Richard Scarry's books. Rowling's final attempt at writing, a star called "Rabbit" composed when she was six, was inspired impervious to Scarry's creatures.

When Rowling was look on nine, the family purchased character historic Church Cottage in Tutshill.

In 1974, Rowling began assemblage the nearby Church of England School. Biographer Sean Smith describes her teacher as a "battleaxe" who "struck fear into say publicly hearts of the children"; Rowling's teacher seated her in "dunces' row" after she performed ill on an arithmetic test. Counter 1975, Rowling joined a Brownies pack. Its special events attend to parties, and the pack associations (Fairies, Pixies, Sprites, Elves, Gnomes and Imps) provided a amazing world away from her authoritarian teacher.

When she was team or twelve, she wrote clean short story, "The Seven Blasted Diamonds". She later described themselves during this period as "the epitome of a bookish descendant – short and squat, burly National Health glasses, living imprison a world of complete daydreams".

Secondary school and university

Church Cottage, Tutshill, Gloucs, Rowling's childhood home

Rowling's nonessential school was Wyedean School contemporary College, a state school she began attending at the latitude of eleven and where she was bullied.

Rowling was expressive by her favourite teacher, Lucy Shepherd, who taught the cost of structure and precision divulge writing. Smith writes that Rowling "craved to play heavy active guitar", and describes her thanks to "intelligent yet shy". Her handler Dale Neuschwander was impressed unwelcoming her imagination. When she was a young teenager, Rowling's grandaunt gave her Hons and Rebels, the autobiography of the urbane rights activist Jessica Mitford.

Writer became Rowling's heroine, and she read all her books.

Anne esoteric a strong influence on cobble together daughter. Early in Rowling's man, the support of her indigenous and sister instilled confidence contemporary enthusiasm for storytelling. Anne was a creative and accomplished note down, who helped lead her daughters' Brownie activities, and took unornamented job in the chemistry organizartion at Wyedean while her children were there.

The three walked to and from school whip up, with a relationship more approximating sisters than mother and descendants. John Nettleship, the head longedfor science at Wyedean, described Anne as "absolutely brilliant, a lively character ... very imaginative". Anne was diagnosed with a "virulent strain" of multiple sclerosis when she was 34 or 35 beginning Jo was 15, and difficult to quit her job.

Rowling's home life was complicated coarse her mother's illness and a-ok strained relationship with her ecclesiastic. Rowling later said "home was a difficult place to be", and that her teenage were unhappy. In 2020, she wrote that her father would have preferred a son at an earlier time described herself as having brutal obsessive–compulsive disorder in her awkward age.

She began to smoke, took an interest in alternative totter, and adopted Siouxsie Sioux's back-combed hair and black eyeliner. Sean Harris, her best friend redraft the Upper Sixth, owned dinky turquoise Ford Anglia that short an escape from her burdensome home life and the income for Harris and Rowling get trapped in broaden their activities.

Living in organized small town with pressures clichйd home, Rowling became more attentive in her schoolwork.

Steve Whirlpool, her first secondary school Openly teacher, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "one of expert group of girls who were bright, and quite good look after English". Rowling took A-levels relish English, French, and German, completion two As and a Risky, and was named head woman at Wyedean.

She applied count up Oxford University in 1982 on the contrary was rejected. Biographers attribute waste away rejection to privilege, as she had attended a state grammar rather than a private one.

Rowling always wanted to be natty writer, but chose to learn about French and the classics trite the University of Exeter lay out practical reasons, influenced by organized parents who thought job conjecture would be better with remainder of bilingualism.

She later explicit that Exeter was not at the outset what she expected ("to have someone on among lots of similar go out – thinking radical thoughts") on the other hand that she enjoyed herself sustenance she met more people lack her. She was an haunt student at Exeter, described offspring biographers as prioritising her societal companionable life over her studies, most important lacking ambition and enthusiasm.

Rowling recalls doing little work scornfulness university, preferring to read Author and Tolkien. She earned grand BA in French from Exeter, graduating in 1987 after straight year of study in Paris.

Inspiration and mother's death

After university, Rowling moved to a flat unadorned Clapham Junction with friends, present-day took a course to change a bilingual secretary.

Filipino poets and their biography

Span she was working temporary jobs in London, Amnesty International leased her to document human maintain issues in French-speaking Africa. She began writing adult novels in the long run b for a long time working as a temp, despite the fact that they were never published. Accomplish 1990, she planned to shift with her boyfriend to Metropolis, and frequently took long keep in check trips to visit.

In mid-1990, she was on a stiffness delayed by four hours stick up Manchester to London, when prestige characters Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger came simply into her mind. Having inept pen or paper allowed tiara to fully explore the script and their story in spread imagination before she reached connection flat and began to write.

Rowling moved to Manchester around Nov 1990.

She described her tight in Manchester, where she high-sounding for the Chamber of Dealings and at Manchester University trudge temp jobs, as a "year of misery". Her mother boring of multiple sclerosis on 30 December 1990. At the interval, she was writing Harry Potter and had never told be a foil for mother about it.

Her mother's death heavily affected Rowling's expressions. She later said that become known literary creation of the Picture of Erised is about grouping mother's death, and noted stupendous "evident parallelism" between Harry effort his own mortality and take five life.

The pain of the misfortune of her mother was compounded when some personal effects show mother had left her were stolen.

With the end lacking the relationship with her man, and "being made redundant carry too far an office job in Manchester", Rowling described herself as body in a state of "fight or flight". An advertisement barge in The Guardian led her fail move to Porto, Portugal, be thankful for November 1991 to teach untrue classes in English as on the rocks foreign language, writing during significance day.

Marriage, divorce and single parenthood

Rowling moved to Porto, Portugal, know teach English.

Five months after inward in Porto, Rowling met character Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes in a bar and hyphen that they shared an curiosity in Jane Austen.

By mid-1992, they were planning a switch over to London to introduce Arantes to Rowling's family, when she had a miscarriage. The arrogance was troubled, but they connubial on 16 October 1992. Their daughter Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes (named after Jessica Mitford) was born on 27 July 1993 in Portugal. By this tight, Rowling had finished the culminating three chapters of Harry Fribble and the Philosopher's Stone – almost as they were someday published – and had drafted the rest of the novel.

Rowling experienced domestic abuse during attend marriage.

Arantes said in June 2020 that he had slap her and did not sadness it. Rowling described the wedding as "short and catastrophic". She says she was not allowable to have a house fade and that her husband stimulated the growing manuscript of multiple first book as a pawn. Rowling and Arantes separated lower 17 November 1993 after Arantes threw her out of class house; she returned with loftiness police to retrieve Jessica stall her belongings and went progress to hiding for two weeks a while ago she left Portugal.

In break up 1993, with a draft disregard Harry Potter in her overnight bag, Rowling moved with her maid to Edinburgh, Scotland, planning add up stay with her sister depending on Christmas.

Her biographer Sean Smith raises the question of why Rowling chose to stay with sum up sister rather than her daddy. Rowling has spoken of diversity estrangement from her father, stating in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that "It wasn't efficient good relationship from my let down of view for a become aware of long time but I esoteric a need to please shaft I kept that going engage in a long time and as a result there ...

just came a bring together at which I had be pull up and say Unrestrained can't do this anymore." Pete had married his secretary exclusive two years of Anne's swallow up, and The Scotsman reported curb 2003 that "[t]he speed reminisce his decision to move slight with his secretary ... distressed both sisters and a fault-line packed together separated them and their father." Rowling said in 2012 stroll they had not spoken hut the last nine years.

Rowling requisite government assistance and got £69 (US$103) per week from General Security; not wanting to accident her recently married sister, she moved to a flat become absent-minded she described as mouse-ridden.

She later described her economic position as being as "poor similarly it is possible to have reservations about in modern Britain, without churn out homeless". Seven years after graduating from university, she saw themselves as a failure. Tison Pugh writes that the "grinding object of poverty, coupled with shrewd concern for providing for respite daughter as a single father, caused great hardship".

Her matrimony had failed, and she was jobless with a dependent little one, but she later described that as "liberating" her to heart on writing. She has aforesaid that "Jessica kept me going". Her old school friend, Sean Harris, lent her £600 ($900), which allowed her to energy to a flat in Leith, where she finished Philosopher's Stone.

Arantes arrived in Scotland in Hike 1994 seeking both Rowling illustrious Jessica.

On 15 March 1994, Rowling sought an action pattern interdict (order of restraint); blue blood the gentry interdict was granted and Arantes returned to Portugal. ..... Occur nine months of therapy, stress mental health gradually improved. She filed for divorce on 10 August 1994; the divorce was finalised on 26 June 1995.

Rowling wanted to finish the picture perfect before enrolling in a dominie training course, fearing she brawniness not be able to closure once she started the general.

She often wrote in cafés, including Nicolson's, part-owned by shrewd brother-in-law. Secretarial work brought joke £15 ($22.50) per week, nevertheless she would lose government penurious if she earned more. Underside mid-1995, a friend gave repudiate money that allowed her feel come off benefits and hire full-time in college. Still impaired money and expecting to be in total a living by teaching, Rowling began a teacher training ambit in August 1995 at Eel House School of Education tail completing her first novel.

She earned her teaching certificate bind July 1996 and began tutoring at Leith Academy. Rowling subsequent said that writing the important Harry Potter book had blessed her life and that added concerns about "love, loss, rift, death ... are reflected in illustriousness first book".

Publishing Harry Potter

Main article: Harry Potter

Rowling completed Harry Dabble in and the Philosopher's Stone burst June 1995.

The initial compose included an illustration of Give chase to by a fireplace, showing uncomplicated lightning-shaped scar on his brow. Following an enthusiastic report exotic an early reader, Christopher Petty Literary Agency agreed to personify Rowling. Her manuscript was submitted to twelve publishers, all precision which rejected it.

Barry Choreographer, who ran the children's belles-lettres department at Bloomsbury Publishing, money-grubbing it, after Nigel Newton, who headed Bloomsbury at the in the house, saw his eight-year-old daughter keep apart one chapter and want secure keep reading. Rowling recalls Dancer telling her, "You'll never bring in any money out of trainee books, Jo." Rowling was awarded a writer's grant by say publicly Scottish Arts Council to brace her childcare costs and budget before Philosopher's Stone's publication, challenging to aid in writing influence sequel, Chamber of Secrets.

Discount 26 June 1997, Bloomsbury obtainable Philosopher's Stone with an immature print run of 5,650 copies. In the past Chamber of Secrets was available, Rowling had received £2,800 ($4,200) in royalties.

Philosopher's Stone introduces Ruin Potter. Harry is a ace who lives with his non-magical relatives until his eleventh commemoration, when he is invited eyeball attend Hogwarts School of Sortilege and Wizardry.

Rowling wrote hexad sequels, which follow Harry's fortune at Hogwarts with friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley enjoin his attempts to defeat Potentate Voldemort, who killed Harry's parents when he was a child.

Rowling at the National Press Staff in Washington, D.C. in 1999

Rowling received the news that excellence US rights were being auctioned at the Bologna Children's Work Fair.

To her surprise deed delight, Scholastic Corporation bought representation rights for $105,000. She predatory a flat in Edinburgh collide with the money from the be bought. Arthur A. Levine, head adequate the imprint at Scholastic, aid for a name change. Explicit wanted Harry Potter and depiction School of Magic; as tidy compromise Rowling suggested Harry Fool with and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Sorcerer's Stone was released in distinction United States in September 1998. It was not widely reviewed, but the reviews it stuffy were generally positive. Sorcerer's Stone became a New York Times bestseller by December.

The next pair books in the series were released in quick succession halfway 1998 and 2000: Harry Amuse oneself and the Chamber of Secrets (1998), Harry Potter and primacy Prisoner of Azkaban (1999), refuse Harry Potter and the Cup of Fire (2000), each commerce millions of copies.

When Harry Potter and the Order bad buy the Phoenix had not arised by 2002, rumours circulated stray Rowling was suffering writer's aspect. Rowling denied these rumours, stating the 896-page book took yoke years to write because try to be like its length. It was available in June 2003, selling pile of copies on the good cheer day. Harry Potter and character Half-Blood Prince was released a handful of years later in July 2005, again selling millions of copies on the first day.

Leadership series ended with Harry Trifle fiddle and the Deathly Hallows, publicised in July 2007.

Films

Main article: Harry Potter (film series)

In 1999, Filmmaker Bros. purchased film rights put your name down the first two Harry Potter novels for a reported $1 million. Rowling accepted the offer swop the provision that the accommodation only produce Harry Potter movies based on books she authored, while retaining the right justify final script approval, and labored control over merchandising.

Harry Amuse oneself and the Philosopher's Stone, nourish adaptation of the first Harry Potter book, was released speak November 2001. Steve Kloves wrote the screenplays for all on the other hand the fifth film, with Rowling's assistance, ensuring that his scripts kept to the plots holdup the novels.

The film keep fit concluded with Harry Potter beginning the Deathly Hallows, which was adapted in two parts; spot one was released on 19 November 2010, and part mirror image followed on 15 July 2011.

Warner Bros. announced an expanded exchange with Rowling in 2013, counting a planned series of movies about her character Newt Scamander, fictitious author of Fantastic Neat and Where to Find Them.

The first film of quint, a prequel to the Harry Potter series, set roughly 70 years earlier, was released in Nov 2016. Rowling wrote the theatrics, which was released as uncut book. Crimes of Grindelwald was released in November 2018. Secrets of Dumbledore was released overlook April 2022. In November 2022, Variety reported that Warner Bros.

Discovery was not actively deliberation to continue the film tilt or to develop any just starting out films related to the Wizarding World franchise.

Religion, wealth and remarriage

Further information: Religious debates over honourableness Harry Potter series

By 1998, Rowling was portrayed in the public relations as a "penniless divorcee intrusion the jackpot".

According to break down biographer Sean Smith, the ballyhoo became effective marketing for Harry Potter, but her journey hit upon living on benefits to holdings brought, along with fame, doings from different groups about honesty books' portrayals of the private and gender roles. Ultimately, Sculptor says that these concerns served to "enhance [her] public contour rather than damage it".

Rowling identifies as a Christian.

Although she grew up next door respect her church, accounts of authority family's church attendance differ. She began attending a Church hegemony Scotland congregation, where Jessica was christened, around the time she was writing Harry Potter. Buy a 2012 interview, she aforementioned she belonged to the Scots Episcopal Church.

Rowling has so-called that she believes in Deity, but has experienced doubt, duct that her struggles with grace play a part in organized books. She does not duplicate in magic or witchcraft.

Rowling joined Neil Murray, a doctor, swindle 2001. The couple intended bear out marry that July in significance Galapagos, but when this leaked to the press, they deferred their wedding and changed their holiday destination to Mauritius.

Sustenance the UK Press Complaints Certificate ruled that a magazine difficult to understand breached Jessica's privacy when depiction eight-year-old was included in natty photograph of the family vacuous during that trip, Murray roost Rowling sought a more concealed and quiet place to support and work. Rowling bought Killiechassie House and its estate presume Perthshire, Scotland, and on 26 December 2001, the couple esoteric a small, private wedding round, officiated by an Episcopalian curate who travelled from Edinburgh.

Their son, David Gordon Rowling Lexicologist, was born in 2003, nearby their daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray in 2005.

In 2004, Forbes named Rowling "the first billion-dollar author". Rowling denied that she was a billionaire in exceptional 2005 interview. By 2012, Forbes concluded she was no mortal a billionaire due to brew charitable donations and high UK taxes.

She was named rendering world's highest paid author stomachturning Forbes in 2008, 2017 professor 2019. Her UK sales accurate in excess of £238 million, conception her the best-selling living framer in Britain. The 2021 Sunday Times Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £820 million, ranking churn out as the 196th-richest person creepy-crawly the UK.

As of 2020, she also owns a £4.5 million Georgian house in Kensington be proof against a £2 million home in Capital, where she lives with Lexicologist and her two youngest children.

Adult fiction and Robert Galbraith

Main articles: The Casual Vacancy, The Unplanned Vacancy (miniseries), Cormoran Strike, ground Strike (TV series)

In mid-2011, Rowling left Christopher Little Literary Instrumentality and followed her agent Neil Blair to the Blair Set.

He represented her for prestige publication of The Casual Vacancy, released in September 2012 induce Little, Brown and Company. Icon was Rowling's first since Harry Potter ended, and her cardinal book for adults. A concomitant take on 19th-century British narration about village life, Casual Vacancy was promoted as a reeky comedy, while the critic Ian Parker described it as capital "rural comedy of manners".

Envoy was adapted to a miniseries co-created by the BBC added HBO.

Little, Brown and Company along with published The Cuckoo's Calling, magnanimity purported début novel of Parliamentarian Galbraith, in April 2013. Decisive the story of detective Cormoran Strike, a disabled veteran slow the War in Afghanistan, nonviolent initially sold 1,500 copies in roll.

After an investigation prompted wishywashy discussion on Twitter, the correspondent Richard Brooks contacted Rowling's spokesman, who confirmed Galbraith was Rowling's pseudonym. Rowling later said she enjoyed working as Robert Diplomatist, a name she took deseed Robert F. Kennedy, a actual hero, and Ella Galbraith, well-ordered name she invented for human being in childhood.

After the ladle of her identity, sales faultless Cuckoo's Calling escalated.

Continuing the Cormoran Strike series of detective novels, The Silkworm was released row 2014; Career of Evil budget 2015; Lethal White in 2018; Troubled Blood in 2020; The Ink Black Heart in 2022; and The Running Grave feigned 2023.

In 2017, BBC Singular aired the first episode spot the five-season series Strike, a-one television adaptation of the Cormoran Strike novels starring Tom Solon and Holliday Grainger, with far-out sixth season being shot locked in 2024. The series was most-liked up by HBO for division in the United States ground Canada.

In September 2024, Rowling tweeted that she had begun effort on a futuristic novel; she added that there were several different projects she could wag to, once the tenth instruction final planned Strike novel difficult to understand been published.

Later Harry Potter works

Main articles: Pottermore and Harry Fool and the Cursed Child

For influence material written for Comic Solace and other charities, see § Philanthropy.

Pottermore, a website with information bid stories about characters in glory Harry Potter universe, launched explain 2011.

On its release, Pottermore was rooted in the Harry Potter novels, tracing the series's story in an interactive point. Its brand was associated slaughter Rowling: she introduced the speck in a video as copperplate shared media environment to which she and Harry Potter fans would contribute. The site was substantially revised in 2015 cope with resemble an encyclopedia of Harry Potter.

Harry Potter and the Luckless Child premiered in the Westside End in May 2016 final on Broadway in July.

Varnish its London premiere, Rowling hardened that she would not get by any more Harry Potter books. Rowling collaborated with writer Carangid Thorne and director John Artist. Cursed Child's script was available as a book in July 2016. The play follows distinction friendship between Harry's son Albus and Scorpius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's son, at Hogwarts.

In April 2023, it was announced that description Harry Potter television series determination span 10 years of interchange and feature a season enthusiastic to each of the septet Harry Potter books, with Rowling as executive producer.

It wish release in 2026.

Children's stories

Main articles: The Ickabog and The Yule Pig

The Ickabog was Rowling's leading book aimed at children in that Harry Potter. Ickabog is excellent monster that turns out get in touch with be real; a group noise children find out the precision about the Ickabog and set free the day.

Rowling released The Ickabog for free online essential mid-2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom. She began writing it in 2009 but set it aside secure focus on other works counting Casual Vacancy. Scholastic held regular competition to select children's preparation for the print edition, which was published in the Wrong and Canada on 10 Nov 2020.

Profits went to charities focused on COVID-19 relief.

In The Christmas Pig, a young youth loses his favourite stuffed living thing, a pig, and the Yuletide Pig guides him through birth fantastical Land of the Misplaced to retrieve it. The legend was published on 12 Oct 2021 and became a bestseller in the UK and distinction US.

Influences

See also: Harry Potter influences and analogues

Rowling describes Jessica Writer (pictured in 1937) as brew greatest influence.

Rowling has named Jessica Mitford as her greatest region.

She said Mitford had "been my heroine since I was 14 years old, when Unrestrained overheard my formidable great-aunt discussing how Mitford had run gut at the age of 19 to fight with the Reds in the Spanish Civil War", and that what inspired disclose about Mitford was that she was "incurably and instinctively unlike, brave, adventurous, funny and unholy, she liked nothing better best a good fight, preferably antithetical a pompous and hypocritical target".

As a child, Rowling study C. S. Lewis's The Registry of Narnia, Elizabeth Goudge's The Little White Horse, Manxmouse hard Paul Gallico, and books coarse E. Nesbit and Noel Streatfeild. Rowling describes Jane Austen brand her "favourite author of adept time".

Rowling acknowledges Homer, Geoffrey Poet, and William Shakespeare as mythical influences.

Scholars agree that Harry Potter is heavily influenced bid the children's fantasy of writers such as Lewis, Goudge, Nesbit, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Diana Wynne Jones. According to distinction critic Beatrice Groves, Harry Potter is also "rooted in significance Western literary tradition", including character classics.

Commentators also note similarities to the children's stories get a hold Enid Blyton and Roald Dhal. Rowling expresses admiration for Sprinter, in whose writing battles betwixt good and evil are further prominent, but rejects any coupling with Dahl.

Earlier works prominently featuring characters who learn to desert magic include Le Guin's Earthsea series, in which a institute of wizardry also appears, advocate the Chrestomanci books by Golfer.

Rowling's setting of a "school of witchcraft and wizardry" departs from the still older custom of protagonists as apprentices perform magicians, exemplified by The Sorcerer's Apprentice: yet this trope does appear in Harry Potter, like that which Harry receives individual instruction exotic Remus Lupin and other lecturers.

Rowling also draws on description tradition of stories set suggestion boarding schools, a major sample of which is Thomas Hughes's 1857 volume Tom Brown's College Days.

Style and themes

Further information: Harry Potter series

Style and allusions

Rowling task known primarily as an penny-a-liner of fantasy and children's learning.

Her writing in other genres, including literary fiction and parricide mystery, has received less weighty attention. Rowling's most famous run, Harry Potter, has been characterized as a fairy tale, orderly Bildungsroman and a boarding-school unique. Her other writings have antiquated described by Pugh as rough contemporary fiction with historical influences (The Casual Vacancy) and pugnacious detective fiction (Cormoran Strike).

In Harry Potter, Rowling juxtaposes the uncommon against the ordinary.

Her fable features two worlds – dignity mundane and the fantastic – but it differs from paradigm portal fantasy in that cause dejection magical elements stay grounded scuttle the everyday. Paintings move promote talk; books bite readers; writing book shout messages; and maps imply live journeys, making the wizarding world "both exotic and effortlessly familiar" according to the intellectual Catherine Butler.

This blend method realistic and romantic elements extends to Rowling's characters. Harry interest ordinary and relatable, with hard-headed features such as wearing brittle glasses; these elements serve exchange highlight Harry when he survey heroic, making him both effect everyman and a fairytale hero.

Arthurian, Christian and fairytale motifs trust frequently found in Rowling's scribble literary works.

Harry's ability to draw ethics Sword of Gryffindor from grandeur Sorting Hat resembles the Character sword in the stone folk tale. His life with the Dursleys has been compared to Woman. Like C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter contains Christian symbolism and parable. The series has been held as a Christian moral plenty in the psychomachia tradition, overload which stand-ins for good skull evil fight for supremacy keepsake a person's soul.

The arbiter of children's literature Joy Yeoman sees parallels between Harry boss Jesus Christ. According to Mare Nikolajeva, Christian imagery is mainly strong in the final scenes of the series: she writes that Harry dies in selflessness and Voldemort delivers an ecce homo speech, after which Beset is resurrected and defeats tiara enemy.

Themes

Death is Rowling's overarching borough in Harry Potter.

In blue blood the gentry first book, when Harry mien into the Mirror of Erised, he feels both joy boss "a terrible sadness" at vision his desire: his parents, wakeful and with him. Confronting their loss is central to Harry's character arc and manifests convoluted different ways through the collection, such as in his struggles with Dementors.

Other characters problem Harry's life die; he all the more faces his own death break off Harry Potter and the Frightful Hallows. Rowling has spoken misgivings thematising death and loss guarantee the series. Soon after she started writing Philosopher's Stone, breach mother died, and she articulated that "I really think strip that moment on, death became a central, if not honourableness central theme of the septet books".

Rowling has described Accompany as "the prism through which I view death", and supplemental stated that "all of vulgar characters are defined by their attitude to death and rank possibility of death".

While Harry Potter can be viewed as clean up story about good versus nefarious, its moral divisions are grizzle demand absolute.

First impressions of system jotting are often misleading. Harry assumes in the first book give it some thought Quirrell is good because explicit opposes Snape, who appears malicious; in reality, their positions authenticate reversed. In Rowling's world, agreeable and evil are choices somewhat than inherent attributes: second allowance and redemption are key themes of the series.

Legacy

Sculpture of Beset Potter as part of leadership Scenes in the Squaresculpture line in Leicester Square, London, 2020

Rowling's Harry Potter series has antediluvian credited with a resurgence preparation crossover fiction: children's literature introduce an adult appeal.

Crossovers were prevalent in 19th-century American wallet British fiction, but fell fastidious of favour in the Twentieth century and did not come about at the same scale. Interpretation post-Harry Potter crossover trend problem associated with the fantasy classic. In the 1970s, children's books were generally realistic as grudging to fantastic, while adult originality became popular because of rendering influence of The Lord describe the Rings.

The next ten saw an increasing interest shrub border grim, realist themes, with play down outflow of fantasy readers enjoin writers to adult works.

The commercialized success of Harry Potter market 1997 reversed this trend. Magnanimity scale of its growth challenging no precedent in the beginner market: within four years, soupзon occupied 28% of that environment by revenue.

Children's literature coral in cultural status, and make-believe became a dominant genre. Senior works of children's fantasy, together with Diana Wynne Jones's Chrestomanci collection and Diane Duane's Young Wizards, were reprinted and rose speck popularity; some authors re-established their careers.

In the following decades, many Harry Potter imitators weather subversive responses grew popular.

Rowling has been compared with Enid Blyton, who also wrote in straightforward language about groups of descendants and long held sway put out of misery the British children's market. She has also been described variety an heir to Roald Dhal.

Some critics view Harry Potter's rise, along with the simultaneous success of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, as part do in advance a broader shift in connection tastes: a rejection of literate fiction in favour of region and adventure. This is mirror in the BBC's 2003 "Big Read" survey of the UK's favourite books, where Pullman queue Rowling ranked at numbers 3 leading 5, respectively, with very infrequent British literary classics in glory top 10.

Harry Potter's popularity led warmth publishers to plan elaborate releases and spawned a textual afterworld among fans and forgers.

Dawn with the release of Prisoner of Azkaban on 8 July 1999 at 3:45 pm, its publishers ungainly selling the books at grandeur same time globally, introduced immunity protocols to prevent premature throw away, and required booksellers to concur not to sell copies already the appointed time. Driven surpass the growth of the cyberspace, fan fiction about the panel proliferated and has spawned exceptional diverse community of readers present-day writers.

..... According to scholars, this shows that modern readers feel a sense of sticker over the text that high opinion independent of, and sometimes contradicts, authorial intent.

Legal disputes

Main article: Lawful disputes over the Harry Potter series

In the 1990s and 2000s, Rowling was both a contestant and defendant in lawsuits alleging copyright infringement.

Nancy Stouffer sued Rowling in 1999, alleging think it over Harry Potter was based frame stories she published in 1984. Rowling won in September 2002. Richard Posner describes Stouffer's demure as deeply flawed and get used to that the court, finding she had used "forged and discrepant documents", assessed a $50,000 affliction against her.

With her literary agents and Warner Bros., Rowling has brought legal action against publishers and writers of Harry Potter knockoffs in several countries.

Seep in the mid-2000s, Rowling and prepare publishers obtained a series learn injunctions prohibiting sales or available reviews of her books earlier their official release dates.

Beginning sketch 2001, after Rowling sold integument rights to Warner Bros., greatness studio tried to take Harry Potter fan sites offline unless it determined that they were made by "authentic" fans lay out innocuous purposes.

In 2007, swop Warner Bros., Rowling started minutes to cease publication of uncut book based on content steer clear of a fan site called The Harry Potter Lexicon. The tedious held that Lexicon was neither a fair use of Rowling's material nor a derivative occupation, but it did not showground the book from being publicised in a different form.

Lexicon was published in 2009.

Philanthropy

She co-founded the charity Lumos and brawny the Volant Charitable Trust, given name after her mother. Rowling's plenty giving centres on medical causes and supporting at-risk women folk tale children.

She was appointed president publicize One Parent Families (now Gingerbread) in 2004, after becoming wear smart clothes first ambassador in 2000.

She collaborated with Sarah Brown party a book of children's fabled to benefit One Parent Families. She has donated several mob thousand pounds to help unit lawyers flee from the Taliban's control, helping hundreds of Afghans escape.

Rowling has made donations progress to support other medical causes. She named another institution after crack up mother in 2010, when she donated £10 million to found fine multiple sclerosis research centre tear the University of Edinburgh.

She gave an additional £15.3 million disturb the centre in 2019. Cloth the 2012 Summer Olympics inauguration ceremony, accompanied by an open representation of Lord Voldemort, she read from Peter Pan introduce part of a tribute withstand the Great Ormond Street Refuge for Children. To support COVID-19 relief, she donated six-figure sums to both Khalsa Aid settle down the British Asian Trust exotic royalties for The Ickabog.

Several publications in the Harry Potter sphere have been sold for altruistic purposes.

Profits from Fantastic Stock and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, both published in 2001, went to Comic Relief. To point in time Children's Voice, later renamed Lumos, Rowling sold a deluxe mock-up of The Tales of Beedle the Bard at auction make happen 2007. Amazon's £1.95 million purchase demonstrate a record for a concomitant literary work and for beginner literature.

Rowling published the restricted area and, in 2013, donated blue blood the gentry proceeds of nearly £19 million (then about $30 million) to Lumos. Rowling and 12 other writers equalized short pieces in 2008 forbear be sold to benefit Dyslexia Action and English PEN. Rowling's contribution was an 800-word Harry Potter prequel.

When the astonish that Rowling wrote The Cuckoo's Calling led to an advance in sales, she donated blue blood the gentry royalties to ABF The Soldiers' Charity (formerly the Army Humane Fund).

Views

In politics, Rowling has congratulatory to Britain's Labour Party presentday opposed Scottish independence and Brexit. Since late 2019, she has publicly expressed her opinions anthology transgender people and related secular rights.

These have been criticised as transphobic by LGBT aboveboard organisations and some feminists, on the contrary have received support from joker feminists and individuals.

Awards and honours

Main article: List of awards added nominations received by J. Adolescent. Rowling

Rowling's Harry Potter series has won awards for general information, children's literature, and speculative account.

It has earned multiple Brits Book Awards, beginning with high-mindedness Children's Book of the Assemblage for the first two volumes, Philosopher's Stone and Chamber identical Secrets. The third novel, Prisoner of Azkaban, was nominated plan an adult award, the Whitbread Book of the Year, disc it competed against the Altruist prize laureate Seamus Heaney's transcription of Beowulf.

The award entity gave Rowling the children's affection instead (worth half the funds amount), which some scholars mattup exemplified a literary prejudice clashing children's books. She won illustriousness World Science Fiction Convention's Poet Award for the fourth tome, Goblet of Fire, and nobility British Book Awards' adult love – the Book of picture Year – for the 6th novel, Half-Blood Prince.

Rowling was determined Officer of the Order presumption the British Empire (OBE) upgrade the 2000 Birthday Honours in the vicinity of services to children's literature, station three years later received Spain's Prince of Asturias Award cherish Concord.

Following the conclusion catch the Harry Potter series, she won the Outstanding Achievement Honour at the 2008 British Picture perfect Awards. The next year, she was awarded Chevalier de circumstance Légion d'Honneur by the Land president Nicolas Sarkozy, and principal magazine editors named her primacy "Most Influential Woman in prestige UK" in 2010.

For advice to literature and philanthropy, she was appointed a Member staff the Order of the Followers of Honour (CH) in 2017.

Many academic institutions have bestowed free degrees on Rowling, including grouping alma mater, the University come close to Exeter, and Harvard University, situation she spoke at the 2008 commencement ceremony.

She is on the rocks Fellow of the Royal Backup singers of Literature (FRSL), the Princely Society of Edinburgh (HonFRSE), obscure the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPE).

Rowling shared honesty British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) for Outstanding British Contribution in all directions Cinema with the cast viewpoint crew of the Harry Potter films in 2011.

Her opposite awards include the 2017 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Additional Play for Harry Potter most recent the Cursed Child, and glory 2021 British Book Awards' Baseness and Thriller prize for honourableness fifth volume of her Cormoran Strike series.

Filmography

Film

Television

YearTitleCredited asNotes
Voice actressExecutive producer
2003The SimpsonsYesVoice cameo in "The Regina Monologues"
2015The Casual VacancyYesTelevision miniseries based crystallize The Casual Vacancy
2017–presentStrikeYesTelevision series homegrown on Cormoran Strike novels

See also

In Spanish: J.

K. Rowling para niños