J.K. Rowling.
J.K. Rowling, better known as Joanne Rowling, was born on July 31, 1965, in Yate, England. There is a lot to be said about this specific author and how she contributed to British Literature. Some may know her for her successful novels revolving around the character, Harry Potter, but they tend to neglect her background and upbringing. She was once like the average person with a mind constantly wondering onto scenarios that piqued her interest, and one day she stumbled upon the idea of a boy who unlike the average human was a wizard. Rowling is now said to be one of the most bestselling authors in England and throughout the world. Therefore, this exploration of her life is absolutely necessary to get a better understanding of her life prior to being one of the most successful authors of our time, while at the same time displaying why she should be included in this course's curriculum.
Timeline
Table of Events
| Date | Event | Created by |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Jul 1965 | J.K. Rowling's Birth.
J.K. Rowling.J.K. Rowling, better known as Joanne Rowling, was born on July 31, 1965, in Yate General Hospital near Bristol, to James and Anne Rowling. Rowling has one sister named Dianne, who goes by the name Di, and she was born on June 18th, 1967 (“J. K. Rowling Biography”). Despite being widely known as J.K. Rowling, Joanne actually went by the nickname, Jo. She grew up in Gloucestershire in England, the family then moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four. Later on, her family moved to Tutshill, near Chepstow, Gwent, in south-east Wales; near the Welsh border, when she was nine ("Childhood and Family”). Her father, Peter, was an aircraft engineer at the Rolls Royce factory in Bristol and her mother, Anne, was a science technician in the Chemistry department at Wyedean Comprehensive. Jo was deemed academically proficient in her youth and attended St. Michael’s Primary School. She was then enrolled in Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre, which her mother worked at (“J.K. Rowling.”).
Work Cited
“Childhood and Family.” The Life and Times of J.K. Rowling, thelifeandtimesofjkrowling.weebly.com/childhood-and-family.html
“J. K. Rowling Biography.” Thefamouspeople, www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/j-k-rowling-4295.php
“J.K. Rowling.” JKRowling.com, 2016. www.jkrowling.com/about |
Jessica Russo |
| 1971 to 1982 | J.K Rowling's Upbringing / Childhood. |
Jessica Russo |
| 1983 to 1986 | J.K. Rowling's Education.J.K. Rowling.Joanne Rowling really enjoyed attending school. She first went to St. Michael’s Primary School and then Wyedean School and Sixth Form Centre, which her mother worked at (“J.K. Rowling.”). After graduation from Wyedean in 1983, she then attended Exeter University and graduated in 1986 with a BA in French and Classics. (“Childhood and Family”). While she studied at Exter University she was absolutely absorbed in books. She read so frequently outside of her French and Classics syllabus that she ended up racking up a fine of £50 for overdue books at the University’s library. Her knowledge pertaining to Classics would come in handy when she wrote her Harry Potter series. She used her ability to interpret Latin to create the spells within her books. After Rowling received her degree, she moved to London and worked for different series of jobs (“J.K. Rowling”). She ended up taking up an offer to be a researcher along with a bilingual secretary for Amnesty International. During this time, she also penned a short essay called, ‘What was the Name of that Nymph Again? or Greek and Roman Studies Recalled’. This essay was published in the University of Exeter's journal Pegasus (“J.K. Rowling Biography”).
Work Cited
“Childhood and Family.” The Life and Times of J.K. Rowling, thelifeandtimesofjkrowling.weebly.com/childhood-and-family.html
“J. K. Rowling Biography.” Thefamouspeople, www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/j-k-rowling-4295.php
“J.K. Rowling.” JKRowling.com, 2016. www.jkrowling.com/about |
Jessica Russo |
| 30 Dec 1990 | J.K. Rowling: The Death of Her Mother.J.K. Rowling.Joanne’s mother, Anne Rowling, unfortunately died on December 30th, 1990. This was prior to the Harry Potter books being published, and it is said that Rowling’s mother was unaware that the series was even in the works (Hall). Jo originally conceived the idea of Harry Potter in July, 1990 while sitting on a four hour delayed train from Manchester to London King’s Cross (“J.K. Rowling”). Later that night she was still captivated by the adrenaline rush which she felt over the wizard boy and the world that he lived in. She did not want to waste time nor did she want to lose her ideas pertaining to the boy. She penned her thoughts and kept forming more concrete ideas on who he was and how his character would be. The same evening that she got the original idea she began to write, “Philosopher's Stone”, which was the first of the Harry Potter series (“J.K. Rowling Biography”). She then planned out the rest of the books over the span of five years, and there ended up being seven books within the series. She wrote these stories mainly in long hand, and gradually built-up notes scribbling on old paper scraps (“J.K. Rowling”). These notes were often taken with her as she moved, and ended up with Rowling in Northen Portugal due to a vacant position becoming available (“J.K. Rowling Biography”). In the city of Porto she taught English as a foreign language, in her spare time she then wrote the first three chapters of her first Harry Potter book. (“J.K. Rowling). As one could see, the loss of her mother influenced her writing on a whole since she was filled with such emotion. Rowling was depressed, confused, and regretful for not sharing the ideas revolving around Harry Potter with her mother. These emotions also influenced her rash decision to move to Portugal, so that she could ultimately escape to have a fresh start. These raw emotions that came with the loss of her mother, also made the plot of her series revolve around the theme of death. Harry Potter’s journey had him deal with death in many forms, the living, what it meant to die, and what survived death. That being said, the books included death because of what she experienced with her mother since she loved her so much and could not deal nor cope with the sudden loss (Hall).
FUN FACT : Harry Potter and Joanne Rowling are said to have the same birthday! His birthday is July 31st, 1980 and Rowling's is July 31st, 1965. I suggest that his parents dying coincides with the death of Rowling's mother since her loss was relaying through her characters and her writing ("Childhood and Family").
Work Cited
“Childhood and Family.” The Life and Times of J.K. Rowling, thelifeandtimesofjkrowling.weebly.com/childhood-and-family.html
Hall, Dana. “JK Rowling Turned Down By 12 Publishers Before Finding Success With Harry Potter Books.” Rise Up Eight, 4 Feb. 2020, riseupeight.org/jk-rowling-harry-potter-books/#:%7E:text=In%20December%201990%2C%20her%20mother,her%20mother%20about%20the%20project
“J. K. Rowling Biography.” Thefamouspeople, www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/j-k-rowling-4295.php
“J.K. Rowling.” JKRowling.com, 2016. www.jkrowling.com/about
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Jessica Russo |
| 1991 to Dec 1993 | J.K. Rowling: Portugal.
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Jessica Russo |
| Dec 1993 to Feb 1996 | J.K. Rowling: Life After Portugal.
J.K. Rowling.She returned to the UK, this time Scotland, to live in Edinburgh with her daughter and to be closer to her sister Dianne in December 1993. She brought with them the suitcase which contained the first three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (“J.K. Rowling”). After arriving in Edinburgh, it is noted that Rowling was still quite depressed following the death of her mother, she was broke, and now recently divorced in August 1994 (Hall). Rowling struggled during this time to support her daughter Jessica and herself on welfare, but she used the time that they had together to work on her first book in the Harry Potter series (Biography). She referred to this time in her life as hitting rock bottom. She used these dark times as ammunition for success in her writing, relaying her emotions onto the paper the same way she coped with the loss of her mother. Rowling realized that she was alive for a reason, she had a beautiful daughter, an old typewriter, and such a big idea. She explained in a Harvard speech that she used this time at rock bottom as a way to rebuild herself on a solid foundation (Hall). Rowling continued work and trained to be a teacher at Edinburgh University ("Timeline"). She ended up acquiring a job and taught in the schools. Again, she used every spare moment to continuing writing and ended up completing a full manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in July 1995 ("J.K. Rowling"). Rowling sent the first three chapters to the literary agents for The Writers and Artists Year Book after looking them up in the Edinburgh Central Library in January 1996. After doing so, Bryony Evens from Christopher Little Literary Agency requested the rest of the manuscript after reading it in February (“J.K. Rowling”).
Work Cited
Hall, Dana.“JK Rowling Turned Down By 12 Publishers Before Finding Success With Harry Potter Books.” Rise Up Eight, 4 Feb. 2020, riseupeight.org/jk-rowling-harry-potter-books/#:%7E:text=In%20December%201990%2C%20her%20mother,her%20mother%20about%20the%20project
“J. K. Rowling Biography.” Thefamouspeople, www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/j-k-rowling-4295.php
“J.K. Rowling.” Biography,
“J.K. Rowling.” JKRowling.com, 2016. www.jkrowling.com/about
“Timeline.” The Rowling Library, www.therowlinglibrary.com/j-k-rowling/timeline |
Jessica Russo |
| Apr 1996 to 1 Sep 1998 | J.K. Rowling: Contract & Publishing.
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Jessica Russo |
| 26 Jun 1997 | J.K. Rowling And Her Pen Names.J.K. Rowling.There is a lot to unpack when looking into the life of J.K. Rowling. For starters, we must address her pen names and the reasoning behind them. Many people often wonder where the name J.K. came from. Well, Joanne’s pen name, J.K., stands for Joanne and Kathleen. Kathleen is Rowling’s grandmother and she wanted to incorporate her grandmother’s name since she lacks a middle name of her own (“J.K. Rowling”). However, this change was not something that she desired, it was actually suggested by her publishers. Joanne was outed for being a woman by the publishers of Harry Potter. The publishers wanted her novel to appeal to all genders; therefore, they did not want to label her as a woman off the bat, that is why they had chosen her initials without giving her much of a choice (Elizabeth). Rowling also went by another pen name, Robert Galbraith, which is used for her fictional stories revolving around crime. She used this pseudonym “which was originally intended to distinguish her adult-oriented fare from the Harry Potter series. Although Rowling did not originally disclose that she was the woman behind the nom de plume, a computer program reportedly unmasked the author’s true identity” (Lang). This pen name actually caused quite the controversy when looked further into since it is linked back to an anti-LGBTQ+ gay conversion therapist; however, Rowling has denied any affiliation with said conversion therapist. She stated that the name that she had chosen simply was in admiration for one of her childhood heroes, Robert F. Kennedy, and combined it for a name that she created in her childhood, Ella Galbraith (Nolan).
Work Cited
Elizabeth, De. “J.K. Rowling Explains the Reason Behind Her Pen Name.” Teen Vogue, 11 July 2017, www.teenvogue.com/story/jk-rowling-reason-pen-name
“J.K. Rowling.” The Biography.com, 02 Apr. 2014, https://www.biography.com/writer/jk-rowling
Lang, Nico. “J.K. Rowling’s Denies Pen Name Is Inspired by Anti-LGBTQ+ Conversion Therapist.” Them., 16 Sept. 2020, www.them.us/story/jk-rowlings-pen-name-also-name-of-anti-lgbtq-conversion-therapist
Nolan, Emma. “Why J.K. Rowling’s ‘Robert Galbraith’ Pseudonym Is Linked to Harmful Conversion Therapist.” Newsweek, 16 Sept. |
Jessica Russo |
| 1999 to 2017 | J.K. Rowling: Honors & Awards.
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Jessica Russo |
| 14 Nov 2001 to 15 Jul 2011 | J.K. Rowling: Movie Deal.
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Jessica Russo |
