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J.K. Rowling Harry Potter Creator | Joanne Kathleen Rowling
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J.K. RowlingJ.K. Rowling is a British novelist and screen writer. She is the creator of Harry Potter fantasy series, one of most popular book series in the history. The book won many awards and more than 400 million copies were sold. The series had been adapted into a blockbuster film franchise. J.K Rowling full name is Joanne Rowling. She writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith. She adopted K as the second initial of her pen name, from her grandmother’s name Kathleen.
J.K. Rowling Family:
Rowling was born on 31 July 1965, in Yate, Gloucestershire, England to Peter James Rowling and Anne Rowling. Rowling has one sister whose name is Dianne who was born when Rowling was 23 months old. Rowling’s father was an aircraft engineer and her mother was a science technician.
Joanne Early Life:
When Rowling was four years, she and her family moved to the village Winterbourne. She attended primary school at St Michael's Primary School. When she was nine years old, she and her family moved to Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, near Chepstow. She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College.From an early age Rowling wanted to be a writer because she grew up surrounded by books as her mum and dad loved reading. At the age of six she wrote her first book a story about a rabbit called Rabbit.
Rowling’s teenage years were sad due to her mother’s illness and a strained relationship with her father. In 1982 she went to study for B.A in French and Classics at the University of Exeter. In 1986 she graduated from Exeter and moved to London to work as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International.
J.K. Rowling Had First the Idea for Harry Potter:
After working at Amnesty International in London, Rowling decided to move to Manchester, where she worked at the Chamber of Commerce. J.K. Rowling first had the idea for Harry Potter while she was on a four-hour-delayed train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. She began to write immediately. After number of rejections Harry Potter was accepted for publication by Bloomsbury.
The first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone quickly became a bestseller on publication in 1997. First three series of Harry Potter books Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (26 June 1997), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2 July 1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (8 July 1999) earned approximately $480 million in three years, with over 35 million copies in print in 35 languages. Seventh series of this book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released in 2007, it sold 11 million copies in the United Kingdom and United States its first 24 hours and it was the largest ever pre-ordered book.
The last four series Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (8 July 2000), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (21 June 2003), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (16 July 2005), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (21 July 2007) set the record as the fastest-selling books in history. Warner Bros, an American entertainment company purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum in October 1998. Due to the popularity of books Rowling has become one of the wealthiest and successful women in the world. But before becoming a successful writer, she faced lot of struggles, her married life failed miserably, she became jobless with a dependent child and she even suffered from clinical depression. However, she described her failure as liberating and allowing her to focus on writing. Rowling wrote four books for adult readers: The Casual Vacancy, The Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm and Career of Evil.
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J.K. Rowling Personal Life:
In 1990 she moved to Portugal to teach English. After few months she met Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes. On 16 October 1992, she married Jorge Arantes. In 1993 they had her first child Jessica. On 17 November 1993 the marriage ended in divorce. After that she moved to Edinburgh, Scotland with her infant baby and three completed chapters of Harry Potter. In 2001 she married Dr. Neil Murray and they had two sons. First son David was born in 2003 and second son Mackenzie born in January 2005.
Honors and Awards
J.K. Rowling received many honors and awards, including:
- Booksellers Association Author of the Year, 1998 and 1999
- Children’s Book of the Year, British Book Awards, 1998 and 1999
- Order of the British Empire (OBE), 2001
- Prince of Asturias Award for Concord, Spain, 2003
- WH Smith Fiction Award, 2004
- Blue Peter Gold Badge, 2007
- Commencement Day Speaker, Harvard University, USA, 2008
- The Edinburgh Award, 2008
- James Joyce Award, University College Dublin, 2008
- South Bank Show Award for Outstanding Achievement, 2008
- Lifetime Achievement Award, British Book Awards, 2008
- Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur: France, 2009
- Hans Christian Andersen Award, Denmark, 2010
- Freedom of the City of London, 2012
- PEN America Literary Service Award, 2016
Rowling Charities:
However, she'll never forget the path she took to get where she is today. She donated hundreds of millions of dollars to charities. J.K. Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust in 2000 and she is also the founder and president of the international children's charity Lumos.
J.K. Rowling Quotes:
“As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.”
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”
“The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive.”
“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”
“Are you the sort of person who gloats when they see a woman fall, or the kind that celebrates a magnificent recovery?”
“You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity.”
“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
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“I believe in free will. Of those that, like us, are in a privileged situation at least. For you, for me: people who are living in western society, people who are not repressed, who are free. We can choose. The things go largely like you want them to go. You control your own life. Your own will is extremely powerful.”
“Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.”
“Whatever money you might have, self-worth really lies in finding out what you do best.”
“Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged.”
“It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be. “
“I have never been remotely ashamed of having been depressed. Never. What’s to be ashamed of? I went through a really rough time and I am quite proud that I got out of that.”
“Is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ‘shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’? Not to me.
You’ve got to work. It’s about structure. It’s about discipline. It’s all these deadly things that your schoolteacher told you needed… You need it.”
“I don’t think there’s any harm at all in allowing a kid to fantasize. In fact, I think to stop people from fantasizing is a very destructive thing indeed.”
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