Just a little page about everyone's favourite author!

Name - Joanne Kathleen Rowling (Pronounced 'ro-ling' as in rolling-pin). Interestingly, her initials 'JK' were used on the books so as not to prejudice boys against them - so much for feminism! :)

Height - 5ft 4in

Birthplace - Chipping Sodbury, to an apprentice engineer and a French/Scottish mother. Her parents met at Kings Cross station. She had a sister, Di, and they all lived in Yate and then Winterbourne. Joanne describes her child-self as "a shy, snotty, swotty little kid and very insecure" (the character of Hermione in the novels is based on the young Joanne). Her favourite childhood book was Elizabeth Goudge's 'The Little White Horse' - one of my own favourites - and she wrote her first book, 'Rabbit', at the age of six. Since then she has written two (unpublished) adult novels. Joanne is fascinated by strange names, which may or may not have something to do with her birthplace, and collects them from all sorts of sources (Hedwig from a Saint, Dumbledore from an old English word meaning 'bumble bee'). She went to school in Chepstow, loved English and languages, and got A-levels in French, German and English. Leaving school, she went to Exeter university to study French and Classics, and then worked as a secretary for a time ("the worst secretary ever", in her own words).

First marriage - Oct 16 1992 - Nov 17 1993. Miss Rowling married a journalist whom she met on a trip to Portugal. Since then, she's worked as a teacher in Edinburgh.

The first step along the road to fame was Harry Potter himself, who "fell into my [Rowling's] head" on the train from Manchester to London. She decided on a seven book series from the outset. Rowling claims Harry's name came from an old childhood friend and neighbour, Ian Potter, and the famous Hogwarts pupil's birth came at a time where Rowling was a poor single mother, with few friends. She lived through depression, and the death of her mother at the age of 45 from multiple sclerosis (when JK was 25). It was only due to a grant of £8000 from the Scottish Arts Council that, after five long years, Harry finally reached us.

Miss Rowling writes in cafes in Edinburgh, and allegedly spent 10 hours a day working on the Prisoner of Azkaban. She spends some of her days answering fan mail. Now that she's famous, she finally has a chance to travel - something she's always wanted to do. The USA is a big favourite when she can tear herself away from Harry for a few seconds (well, maybe a little longer than that).

JK Rowling can be contacted at the following addresses: