J. K. Rowling
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born: July 31, 1965
Chipping Sodbury in South Gloucestershire (England)
Occupation(s): Novelist
Genre(s): Fantasy
Magnum opus: Harry Potter
Website:
http://www.jk-rowling.com
Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE (born 31 July 1965[1]) is a British fiction writer who writes under the pen name of J. K. Rowling[2]. Rowling became famous as author of the Harry Potter fantasy series, which has gained international attention, won multiple awards, and sold over 300 million copies worldwide.[3] In February 2004, Forbes magazine estimated her fortune at £576 million (just over US$1 billion), making her the first person ever to become a $US billionaire by writing books.[4]
Early life
Joanne Rowling was born in South Gloucestershire, England on 31 July 1965,[1] on the outskirts of Bristol.[5] Her birth certificate apparently claims she was born in the Cottage Hospital at Yate, though the hospital is called Chipping Sodbury Hospital, but is actually in Yate.[1]
Her sister Dianne was born when Rowling was almost two.[5] The family moved to Winterbourne, Bristol when Rowling was four, and then to Tutshill, near Chepstow, Wales at the age of nine.[5] She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College. In December 1990, Rowling's mother succumbed to a 10 year long battle with multiple sclerosis.[5] "I was writing Harry Potter at the moment my mother died. I had never told her about Harry Potter. Dad called me at seven o'clock the next morning and I just knew what had happened before he spoke ... I was alternately a wreck and then in total denial ... Barely a day goes by when I do not think of her. There would be so much to tell her, impossibly much." [6] Her passing figures prominently in Rowling's own fear of death and its theme in the Harry Potter series.
After studying French and Classics at the University of Exeter, with a year of study in Paris, she moved to London to work as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International. During this period she had the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry while she was on a four-hour, delayed train trip between Manchester and London.[5] When she had reached her destination, she began writing immediately.[5] [7]
Rowling then moved to Porto, Portugal to teach English as a foreign language. While there, she married Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes on 16 October 1992.[8] They had one child, Jessica Isabel, before divorcing in 1993.[5] Their daughter was named after Rowling's heroine, Jessica Mitford.[9]
In December, 1994, she and her daughter moved to be near her sister in Edinburgh, Scotland.[5] Unemployed and living on state benefits, she completed her first novel, doing some of the work in local Edinburgh cafés whenever she could get Jessica to fall asleep.[5][10] There was a rumour that she wrote in local cafés in order to escape from her unheated flat, but in a 2001 BBC interview Rowling remarked, "I am not stupid enough to rent an unheated flat, in Edinburgh, in mid-winter; it had heating".[10]
Harry Potter
Main article: Harry Potter
Harry Potter books
In 1995, Rowling completed her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on an old manual typewriter.[11] Upon the enthusiastic response of Bryony Evans, a reader who had been asked to review the book's first three chapters, the Fulham-based Christopher Little Literary Agents agreed to represent Rowling in her quest for a publisher. The book was handed to twelve publishing houses, all of which rejected it.[12] A year later she was finally given the greenlight (and a £1500 advance) by the editor Barry Cunningham from the small publisher Bloomsbury.[13][12] The decision to take Rowling on was apparently largely down to Alice Newton, the eight-year-old daughter of the company's chairman, who was given the first chapter to review by her father and immediately demanded the next. [14]Although Bloomsbury had agreed to publish the book, Cunningham claims he advised Rowling to get a day job, as she had little chance of making money in children's books.[15]
Soon after, Rowling received an £8000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council to enable her to continue writing.[11] [16] The following spring, an auction was held in the United States for the rights to publish the novel, and was won by Scholastic Inc, who paid Rowling more than $100,000. Rowling has said she "nearly died" when she heard the news.[17] In June, 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print run of only 1000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries. Today, such copies are valued at between £16,000 and £25,000 each. [18] Five months later it won its first award, a Nestle Smarties Book Prize. In February, the novel won the prestigious British Book Award for Children's Book of the Year, and, later the Children's Book Award. In October 1998, Scholastic published Philosopher's Stone in the States under the title of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, a change Rowling now claims she regrets and would have fought if she had been in a better position at the time.[11][19]
In December 1999, the third Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, won the Smarties Prize, in the process making Rowling the first person to win the award three times running.[11] She later withdrew the fourth Harry Potter novel from contention to allow other books a fair chance. In January, 2000, Prisoner of Azkaban won the inaugural Whitbread Children's Book of the Year award, though it narrowly lost the Book of the Year prize to Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf.[20] That June, the Queen honoured Rowling by making her an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.[11]
To date, six of the seven volumes of the Harry Potter series, one for each of Harry's school years, have already been published and all have broken sales records. The last three volumes in the series have all been the fastest-selling books in history, grossing more in their opening 24 hours than blockbuster films. [11][21][22] Book 6 of her series earned The Guinness World Records Award for being the fastest selling book ever. Daniel Radcliffe, who stars as Harry Potter in the films, was presented and photographed with the award and will be appearing in Guinness World Records 2007. [citation needed]
Rowling is currently writing the seventh and final book of the series. Its title is currently unknown.[23]. On June 26, 2006 Rowling revealed that in the final book of the Harry Potter series at least two characters will die , one of whom may be Harry himself. [3]
In June 2006, Rowling was named "the greatest living British writer" by The Book Magazine. Rowling topped the poll, receiving nearly three times as many votes as second-place author, fantasy writer Terry Pratchett.[24]
Harry Potter films
In October, 1998, Warner Brothers purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum.[11] A film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released on November 16, 2001 and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on November 15, 2002.[11] Both were directed by Chris Columbus.[25][26] The June 4, 2004 film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was directed by Alfonso Cuarón.[27][11] The fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was directed by yet another new director, Mike Newell. A film of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is now in production, under British television director David Yates, and new screenwriter Michael Goldenberg, projected for release on July 13, 2007.[28][29]
In constrast to the treatment of most authors by Hollywood studios, Warner Bros took considerable notice of Rowling's desires and thoughts in their attempt to bring her books to the screen. One of her principal stipulations was the films be shot in Britain with an all-British cast, which has so far been adhered to strictly. [30] In an unprecedented move, Rowling also demanded that Coca-Cola, the victor in the race to tie-in their products to the film series, donate $18 million to the American charity Reading is Fundamental, as well as a number of community charity programs. [31]
The first four films were scripted by Steve Kloves; Rowling assisted him in the writing process, ensuring that his scripts did not contradict future books in the series. She says she has told him more about the later books than anybody else, but not everything.[32] She has also said that she has told Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane certain secrets about their characters that have not yet been revealed.[33] Steven Spielberg was approached to direct the first film, but dropped out. The press has repeatedly claimed that Rowling played a role in his departure, but Rowling stated on her website that she has no say in who directs the films.[34] Rowling's first choice for the director of the first Harry Potter film had been Monty Python alumnus Terry Gilliam, being a fan of Gilliam's work. Warner Brothers studios wanted a more family friendly film, however, and eventually they settled for Chris Columbus. [35]
After Harry Potter
Harry Potter has made Rowling a well known and a very successful author, but after Rowling finishes the final Harry Potter book, she plans to continue writing, possibly using a pen name.[36]
In 2006, Rowling revealed that she had completed a few short stories and another children's book (a "political fairy story") about a monster, aimed at a younger audience than Harry Potter readers.[37]
She is not planning to write an eighth Harry Potter book, but has suggested she might publish an "encyclopedia" of the Harry Potter world consisting of all her unpublished material and notes or possibly a biography of Dumbledore. [citation needed] Any profits from such a book would be given to charity.[38]
Charity
In 2001, the UK fundraiser Comic Relief asked three bestselling British authors (Rowling, lifestyle guru Delia Smith and Bridget Jones creator Helen Fielding) to submit booklets related to their most famous works for publication. For every pound raised, a pound would go towards combatting poverty and social inequality across the globe. Rowling's two booklets, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, are reportedly facsimiles of books found in the Hogwarts library, and are written under the names of their fictional authors, Newt Scamander and Kennilworthy Whisp.[39] Since going on sale in March, 2001, the books have raised £15.7 million ($30 million) for the fund. The £10.8 million ($20 million) raised outside the UK has been channelled into a newly created International Fund for Children and Young People in Crisis.[40]
Rowling has contributed money and support to many other charitable causes, especially research and treatment of multiple sclerosis, from which her mother died in 1990. This death heavily affected her writing, according to Rowling.[41][42][43] In 2006, Rowling contributed a substantial sum toward the creation of a new Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Edinburgh. For reasons unknown, Scotland, Rowling's country of adoption, has the highest rate of MS in the world.[44]
In January 2006, Rowling went to Bucharest to raise funds for the Children's High Level Group, an organization devoted to enforcing the human rights of children, particularly in eastern Europe.[45]
On August 1st & 2nd, 2006, she will be reading alongside Stephen King and John Irving at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Profits from the event will be donated to the Haven Foundation, a charity that aids actors left uninsurable and unable to work, and the medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières.[46]
Her name
Rowling's full name is "Joanne Rowling", not, as is often assumed, "Joanne Kathleen Rowling". Before publishing her first volume, Bloomsbury feared that the target group of young boys might be reluctant to buy books written by a female author. They requested that Rowling use two initials, rather than reveal her first name. As she had no middle name, she chose K from her grandmother's name Kathleen, as the second initial of her pseudonym. The name Kathleen has never been part of her legal name.[19] She calls herself "Jo" and claims, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry."[47] Her surname is pronounced like "rolling" (IPA: /rəʊ.lɪŋ/), not a rhyme for "howling" as is often supposed ?- or, as stated on her website: "'Rowling' (the first syllable of which is pronounced 'row' as in boat, rather than 'row' as in argument) lent itself to woeful jokes such as 'Rowling stone.'"[48]
Current life and family
In 2001, Rowling purchased a luxurious 19th-century estate house, Killiechassie House, on the banks of the River Tay, near Aberfeldy, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.[49] Rowling also owns a home in Morningside, Edinburgh, and a Georgian style house in London, on a street where, according to The Guardian, the average price of a house is £4.27 million ($8 million), possibly including an underground swimming pool and 24-hour security.[50]
On 26 December 2001, Rowling married Dr. Neil Murray, an anaesthetist, in a private ceremony at her home in Aberfeldy.[49] Their son David Gordon Rowling Murray was born shortly after Rowling began writing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Rowling took a break from working on the novel to care for him in his early infancy.[51] Rowling's youngest child, Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, to whom she dedicated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was born in January of 2005.[52]
In her honour
The asteroid (43844) Rowling was named in her honour in early 2006,[53] and the newly-discovered Pachycephalosaurid dinosaur Dracorex hogwartsia, currently at the Children's Museum in Indianapolis, was named in honour of her world in May 2006. [54]
Television
Rowling on The Simpsons.Rowling made a guest appearance as herself on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, in a special British-themed episode entitled The Regina Monologues. The amusing dialog consisted of a short conversation between Rowling and Lisa Simpson, who mispronounces Rowling's name:
Lisa: Look! It's J.K. Rowling, author of Harry Potter books! You've turned a generation of kids onto reading.
Rowling: Thank you, young Muggle.
Lisa: Can you tell me what happens at the end of the series?
Rowling: (sigh) He grows up and marries you. Is that what you want to hear?
Lisa: (dreamily) Yes!
Producer Russell T. Davies asked Rowling to pen an episode of the 2005 season of Doctor Who; Rowling was "amused by the suggestion, but simply [didn't] have the time".[55]
In a July 2005 interview with the MuggleNet and Leaky Cauldron websites' managers, Rowling revealed that she is a great admirer of Aaron Sorkin's work on the American TV show The West Wing.[56]
Lawsuits
Rowling has been involved in several lawsuits over the Harry Potter series.
Nancy Stouffer
In the late 1990s Nancy Stouffer, an author of children's books published in the 1980s, began to charge publicly that Rowling's books were based on her books, including The Legend of Rah and the Muggles and Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly. Stouffer sued Rowling and Scholastic, Inc. in U.S. District Court, also naming Time Warner as a party. Rowling, Scholastic and Warner Bros. sued Stouffer in New York, asking the court to judge that there was no infringement of Stouffer's trademarks or copyright.[57] Rowling and her co-litigants argued that much of the evidence that Stouffer presented was fraudulent, and asked for sanctions and attorneys' fees as punishment.[58] In September 2002 the court found in Rowling's favour, stating that Stouffer had lied to the court and falsified and forged documents to support her case. Stouffer was fined US$50,000 and ordered to pay part (but not all) of the plaintiffs' costs.[59] In January 2004 it was reported that Stouffer's appeal against the judgement had been rejected. The appeals court agreed that Stouffer's claims were properly dismissed because "no reasonable juror could find a likelihood of confusion as to the source of the two parties' works".[60] A report of the judgment (requires subscription) can be found at Entertainment Law Digest. The 2002 judgment can be found here.
New York Daily News
On 19 June 2003 Rowling and her publisher Scholastic announced that they would sue the New York Daily News for $100 million because the newspaper had printed information on her work Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix before the book's official release date. The novel was due for release on Saturday 21 June, but the newspaper published a plot summary and short quotes on the previous Wednesday. An accompanying image even revealed two pages from the book with legible text. However, the story was complicated further when it was revealed that the paper had purchased the book from a health store whose owner received the novels wholesale and decided to place them in the window. The man claimed he was unaware he was supposed to wait until that Saturday.[61]
The Bashu Publishing House, Chengdu
In 2003, unauthorized Chinese language "sequels" to the Harry Potter series, such as Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon, appeared for sale in the People's Republic of China. These books, written by ghostwriters, contain characters from the works of other authors, including Gandalf from J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and the title character from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Rowling's lawyers successfully took legal action against the publishers, who were forced to pay damages.[62]
Eksmo Publishers
Also in 2003, courts in the Netherlands prevented the distribution of a Dutch translation of Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass, the first of Dmitry Yemets' popular Russian series about a female apprentice wizard, Tanya Grotter. Rowling and her publishers sued, arguing that the Grotter books violate copyright law. Yemets and his original Moscow-based publishers, Eksmo, argued unsuccessfully that the books constitute a parody, permitted under copyright.[63]
