J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling
Author • Illustrator • Narratorb. 31 July 1965 · From United Kingdom- Books
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About
Born on 31 July 1965 in Yate, near Bristol, England, Joanne Rowling published her first novel under the initials J.K. at her publisher's suggestion — the K borrowed from her grandmother Kathleen to create a gender-neutral pen name. Before her writing career, she worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International in London and later as an English teacher in Oporto, Portugal.
She conceived the idea for Harry Potter on a delayed train journey from Manchester to London in 1990. Without a pen and too self-conscious to ask a stranger for one, she spent the journey composing the story entirely in her head. Returning to England as a single mother after the breakdown of her first marriage, she wrote the early chapters of the novel in cafés around Edinburgh while her daughter napped.
Twelve publishers rejected the manuscript before Barry Cunningham at Bloomsbury accepted it in 1996. The book was published in June 1997 with a first print run of 500 copies. The Harry Potter series, completed with Deathly Hallows in 2007, has sold over 600 million copies and been translated into 85 languages.
In 2013, Rowling published The Cuckoo's Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. The identity was leaked by a law firm partner and confirmed by forensic linguistic analysis in July of the same year. The Cormoran Strike series, planned for ten books, has continued under the Galbraith name; as of 2025, eight novels have been published.
She also wrote The Casual Vacancy (2012), her first adult literary novel, and The Ickabog (2020), a standalone children's fairy tale. She is a Companion of Honour and a recipient of the PEN America Literary Service Award.
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Fiction Fantasy Young Adult Mystery Adventure
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Featured works
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Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter #1
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter #3
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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter #2
4.5
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter #4
4.4
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter #5Series
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Frequently asked questions
The Harry Potter series should be read in the following order: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (or Philosopher's Stone), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
J. K. Rowling also writes adult crime novels under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. These books feature the private detective Cormoran Strike.
Rowling conceived the idea on a delayed train journey from Manchester to London in 1990. She had no pen and felt too embarrassed to ask a stranger for one, so she spent the journey writing the story entirely in her head. Harry arrived, in her words, 'fully formed' — a boy who didn't know he was a wizard. She began writing the novel in earnest that evening.
Many of J. K. Rowling's books have been adapted into major motion pictures. The entire Harry Potter series has been adapted, as have the Fantastic Beasts books, which expand upon the wizarding world.
Twelve publishers rejected the manuscript before Barry Cunningham at Bloomsbury accepted it in 1996. Cunningham reportedly told Rowling that she would never make any money out of children's books — a remark that has become one of publishing's most frequently cited examples of editorial misjudgement. The first edition was published in June 1997 with a print run of 500 copies.
J. K. Rowling has received numerous accolades, including the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year for several Harry Potter titles, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award for her lasting contribution to children's literature.
Rowling published under the Galbraith pseudonym to write crime fiction without the weight of Harry Potter's expectations — to find out whether the books would succeed on their own merits. She planned to maintain the identity through at least three novels. The pseudonym was broken in July 2013 when a partner at the law firm representing Rowling told a friend, who was a journalist, that Galbraith was Rowling. The Sunday Times confirmed it through forensic linguistic analysis. The law firm issued a formal apology and donated damages to charity.
Before the Harry Potter series, Rowling worked as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International in London, then as an English teacher in Oporto, Portugal. She returned to the United Kingdom as a single mother after the breakdown of her first marriage and was receiving government benefits while completing the first Harry Potter novel in Edinburgh.
As of 2025, Rowling has published thirty books: seven Harry Potter novels (1997–2007), three Hogwarts Library companion works (2001–2008), the play script Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016), The Casual Vacancy (2012), The Ickabog (2020), two Fantastic Beasts screenplays (2016–2018), and eight Cormoran Strike novels under the Robert Galbraith pseudonym (2013–2025). The Strike series is planned to continue to ten books.
Rowling is a Companion of Honour (appointed 2017), one of the United Kingdom's highest civilian honours. She has received the PEN America Literary Service Award (2016), the Edinburgh Award (2008), the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award (2010), and honorary doctorates from multiple universities. The Harry Potter series has won numerous children's literature awards, and the Cormoran Strike series has won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger.
Yes — The Hallmarked Man, published in September 2025, is the eighth book in the planned ten-book Cormoran Strike series. The series is published under the Robert Galbraith pseudonym and continues to debut at number one in both the UK and US. Two further novels are planned before the series concludes.
Rowling wrote much of the early Harry Potter novels in Edinburgh cafés, most notably The Elephant House on George IV Bridge, while her infant daughter slept beside her. She has lived in Edinburgh for most of her adult life. In 2008, she received the Edinburgh Award — given annually to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the city — and became the first woman to be honoured by a statue on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.