|
Vikidia currently has 4,619 articles. Improve it! |
|
Join Vikidia: create your account now and improve it! |
J. K. Rowling
 | This article was translated by Duolingo. There is an ongoing discussion about possible copyright issues. |
Joanne Rowling, born July 31, 1965 at Chipping Sodbury in South Gloucestershire, England, is a female British writer. In 1974, after the death of her paternal grandmother "Kathleen" (which saddened her greatly); she added her grandmother's name as a middle name. She would later use the pseudonym "J.K. Rowling", the "K" coming from this choice.
Personal life[edit | edit source]
Education[edit | edit source]
In 1983 Joanne applied to be enrolled at the University of Oxford without success. So she went to the University of Exeter where she studied French and Ancient Language from 1983 to 1987. She went to Paris in 1985 to improve her French, which gave her much success. She finished her studies with a note of 'passable'.
Her Beginnings In Being A Writer[edit | edit source]
The inspiration for the magical world of Harry Potter appeared clearly one beautiful day. While she got ready to take the train from Manchester to London in 1990, the idea of a young dark-haired boy in glasses boarding a train to join a school of witchcraft sprang into her thoughts. She spent her journey imagining his story. Soon after Joanne had begun to write Harry Potter, her mother died leaving Joanne, Dianne (Joanne's younger sister) and their unhappy father. Nine months later she left alone for Portugal to teach English there.
Difficulties[edit | edit source]
Whilst working at her new job, she always continued with her fantasy book. It progressed well and quickly and she finished her favourite chapter, The Mirror of Erised, even though she had still not left Portugal. She got married October 16, 1992 to a Portuguese journalist named Jorge Arantes. After a miscarriage, she gave birth to a girl named Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes July 27, 1993. However, three years later, Joanne and Jorge divorced. Therefore, Joanne left to live at her sister's house with her daughter and, sometime later, she moved (still with Jessica) to a building in Leith. Thankfully for her, Sean Harris, her best friend from high school, helped her financially by loaning her money.
Writing Harry Potter[edit | edit source]
She took up teaching again, but this time so she could work during all her days. She therefore must have hurried to finish "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone", otherwise she would have stopped because she wouldn't have any time to pursue it. She wrote as often as possible. Once she finished her book, she sent the first three chapters to an agent, who sent them back. The second, meanwhile, asked her the sequel because he thought that it would be possible to publish her book. After several rejections, Barry Cunningham agreed to have them published. The novel was published on June 30, 1997. Joanne obtained work as a French teacher at Leith Academy.
Success of Harry Potter[edit | edit source]
Harry Potter was very successful, and she was therefore able to buy a larger and more spacious apartment which better suited Joanne and her daughter. With lots of money, she was able to stop her job teaching in order to make more time to write the seven volumes of the Harry Potter trilogy. The first three volumes were a great success. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was pre sold more than one million copies. J.K Rowling from then on became rich and famous. On December 26, 2001 she married again with the doctor called Neil Michael Murray, Her son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born March 23, 2003. And on January 23, 2005 she gave birth to her second daughter, Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray. The books and the films about Harry Potter are very popular (400 million copies sold in total)
She writes her novels in English but she studies other languages, like French. (She has learnt to teach French) She is above all known as the author of the saga of Harry Potter. By June 2008, those seven books were already translated into 67 languages and more than 400 millions of copies had been sold.[1]
She is among the few authors who became multi-millionaires thanks to their books.
Other books[edit | edit source]
Joanne has written four other books in addition to the seven volumes of Harry Potter.
Quidditch through the Ages It was released in March 2001 and it is a book based on the rules of "Quidditch", a famous sport in the world of wizards in Harry Potter.
In parallel to Quidditch through ages, she has written Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) in March 2001.
One year and a half after the achievement of half volume of Harry Potter, "Harry Potter and the deathly Hallows", she wrote The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
And her last book (for the moment) is The Casual Vacancy. It will be published in September 2012. It is a detective novel.
Works[edit | edit source]
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, June 1997
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, July 1998
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, July 1999
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, July 2000
- Quidditch through the Ages, March 2001
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, March 2001
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, June 2003
- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, July 2005
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, released in English 22 July 2007 and in French 25 October 2007
- The Tales of Beedle the Bard, December 2008
- The Casual Vacancy, September 2012