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JK Rowling Fact File

J.K. Rowling, whose full name is Joanne Rowling, was born on July 31, 1965 in Gloucestershire, UK. She is best known as the author of the hugely popular Harry Potter fantasy series. Rowling drew inspiration from her own life experiences, such as the death of her mother, in the Harry Potter books. She came up with the idea for the series while traveling from Manchester to London by train in 1990.

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348 views4 pages

JK Rowling Fact File

J.K. Rowling, whose full name is Joanne Rowling, was born on July 31, 1965 in Gloucestershire, UK. She is best known as the author of the hugely popular Harry Potter fantasy series. Rowling drew inspiration from her own life experiences, such as the death of her mother, in the Harry Potter books. She came up with the idea for the series while traveling from Manchester to London by train in 1990.

Uploaded by

Vivan Baskeran
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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J.K.

Rowling Fact File


Biography Name:
J.K Rowling is the best-selling living author in the UK and her Joanne Rowling
books are popular all over the world. Rowling has described Born:
writers such as Jane Austen and C.S. Lewis as her sources of 31st July 1965
inspiration. Place of birth:
Gloucestershire, UK
She was born Joanne Rowling on 31st July 1965, in
Occupation:
Gloucestershire. She enjoyed writing fantasy stories from an
Writer, Author
early age, reading them to her younger sister. As a teenager,
Rowling began studying French and Classics at Exeter University.
Having graduated, she moved to London to work as a researcher
for Amnesty International, an organisation which works to
protect human rights around the world. She later moved to
Manchester, where she worked at the Chamber of Commerce.

It was in 1990, when Joanne was on a delayed train journey


from Manchester to London that the idea for a series of books
came into her head. During the writing of the first Harry Potter
book, Joanne’s mother died, greatly affecting her writing.
Rowling decided to introduce more detail about the loss of the
main character’s parents as she knew how it felt. Rowling used Photo courtesy of Sjhill - granted under creative commons licence

her life as inspiration for many other ideas in the book, for example, her parents met at Kings
Cross Station, which is where Harry Potter catches the train to school, and Joanne shares her
birthday with Harry.

After living and working as an English teacher in Portugal, Rowling moved to Edinburgh with
her daughter, who is named after one of Joanne’s favourite writers. Those early days of living
in Scotland weren’t easy for Rowling - she had no job but dedicated her time to finishing her
book. When the story was finally completed, it was sent to 12 different publishing houses, all
of which turned it down. In 1997, the book was finally published by Bloomsbury under the
name J.K. Rowling.
J.K. Rowling Fact File
As Joanne didn’t have a middle name, she incorporated her
grandmother’s name, ‘Kathleen’ into her initials. Her real name
wasn’t used as the publishers didn’t think that boys would
want to read a book written by a female author. Shortly after
being published, the book won its first award and proved to
be hugely popular. She later released the sequel, 'Harry Potter
and the Chamber of Secrets', followed by 'Harry Potter and
Photo courtesy of veganstraightedge @flickr - granted under

the Prisoner of Azkaban'. It was the fourth book in the series, creative commons licence

'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire', which broke sales records in both the UK and America.
Rowling was also named Author of the Year at the 2000 British Book Awards and awarded an
OBE for services to children’s literature.

The final book in the series, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', was released in 2007 and
became the fastest-selling book in history, selling millions of copies on the first day of release.
The books were made into hugely successful films and have captured the imaginations of
children and adults all around the world. Since the end of the Harry Potter stories, Rowling has
written other books linked to the series. She has also written stories for adults and continues
to embark on other projects.

Today, original copies of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone' sell for around £20,000
and the series has been translated into 65 languages.
J.K. Rowling
Answer the questions in full sentences.

1. When and where was she born?

2. Name one of Rowling’s favourite authors.

3. Which university did Joanne study at?

4. Explain why she moved to London.

5. Where did Joanne come up with the idea for the Harry Potter series?

6. Can you explain how the death of her own mother affected her writing?

7. Give two other ways in which she has used her own life experiences in the Harry Potter books.

8. What did the publishers think about Joanne’s full name being printed on her books?

9. What could one of the original copies of 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone' sell for?



J.K. Rowling
Answer questions in full sentences.

10. If you have read all of the Harry Potter books, which is your favourite and why?




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