Starting on 26 May 2020 and running until 10 July 2020, Rowling published a new children's story online. "The Ickabog" was first mooted as a "political fairytale" for children in a 2007 "Time" magazine interview. Rowling shelved the story and decided to publish it for children as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A print edition is scheduled for November 2020 and will contain illustrations selected from entries to a competition running concurrently with the online publication.
"The Ickabog"
J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling | "The Ickabog"
Yes - The Ickabog, The Casual Vacancy, The Cuckoo's Calling Yes, "The Ickabog". Yes, a political fairytale titled "The Ickabog”. Yes,  "The Casual Vacancy", "Cormoran Strike" series,  "The Ickabog"
when did jk rowling wrote the harry potter books
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Her debut novel was written between approximately June 1990 and some time in 1995.
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who is j.k. rowling?
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A British writer and philanthropist.
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what is her full name?
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Joanne Kathleen Rowling
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who were her parents?
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Science technician Anne and Rolls-Royce aircraft engineer Peter James Rowling.
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did she get married?
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Yes -She married Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes in 1992 but they separated. Then she married Neil Murray a Scottish doctor in 2001
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how many kids does she have?
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3 kids - Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes, David Gordon Rowling Murray, Mackenzie Jean Rowling
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where did she study?
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Wyedean School and College, University of Exeter.
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what are her views on religions?
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She identifies herself as a Christian; She believes in God, not magic; she is an adherent of the Church of England; believes in an afterlife, and that her faith plays a part in her books.
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what was her inspiration to write the aforementioned books?
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In 1990, while she was on a train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry "came fully formed" into her mind. Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the "Harry Potter" headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Her mother's death heavily affected Rowling's writing
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who is the book's publisher?
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Bloomsbury.
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were the books adapted into anything other media form?
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Yes - films, illustrated version, media games, board games, audiobooks
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does she donate to any charity?
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Yes - In 2002, Rowling contributed a foreword to "Magic", an anthology of fiction published by Bloomsbury Publishing, helping to raise money for the National Council for One Parent Families.
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what are her views on politics?
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centre-left political views; she donated £1 million to the Labour Party, and publicly endorsed Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown
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does she have any legal problems?
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Yes - Rowling, her publishers, and Time Warner have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyright. The worldwide popularity of the "Harry Potter" series has led to  locally produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works.
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has she written anything else apart from the originally mentioned books?
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Rowling has said it is unlikely she will write any more books in the "Harry Potter" series. In October 2007, she stated that her future work was unlikely to be in the fantasy genre. On 1 October 2010, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Rowling stated a new book on the saga might happen. In 2007, Rowling stated that she planned to write an encyclopaedia of "Harry Potter"s wizarding world consisting of various unpublished material and notes. Any profits from such a book would be given to charity. During a news conference at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre in 2007, Rowling, when asked how the encyclopaedia was coming along, said, "It's not coming along, and I haven't started writing it.
J. K. Rowling | Subsequent "Harry Potter" publications
"The Ickabog" is aimed for children between the ages of seven and nine. It is the first children's book written by J. K. Rowling that is not set in the Harry Potter universe, and at its announcement, Rowling confirmed that "The Ickabog" would not be a Harry Potter spin-off. Rowling has described the book as a "political fairytale... for slightly younger children". Rowling first drafted "The Ickabog" between 2003 and 2007, as a gift for her children. She intended to publish "The Ickabog" after the "Harry Potter" series, but stopped after focusing on adult fiction instead. She left her script of "The Ickabog" in her attic until 2020.
The Ickabog | Background and release
On 31 October 2007, Warner Bros. and Rowling sued RDR Books to block the book's publication. Rowling, who previously had a good relationship with Vander Ark, reiterated on her website that she plans to write a "Harry Potter" encyclopedia, and that the publication of a similar book before her own would hurt the proceeds of the official encyclopedia, which she plans to give to charity. A judge later barred publication of the book in any form until the case was resolved. In their suit, Rowling's lawyers also asserted that, as the book describes itself as a print facsimile of the Harry Potter Lexicon website, it would publish excerpts from the novels and stills from the films without offering sufficient "transformative" material to be considered a separate work.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books | Pre-trial
The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband, and relative poverty until the first novel in the series, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", was published in 1997. There were six sequels, of which the last was released in 2007. Since then, Rowling has written several books for adult readers: "The Casual Vacancy" (2012) and—under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith—the crime fiction "Cormoran Strike" series. In 2020, her "political fairytale" for children, "The Ickabog", was released in instalments in an online version. Rowling has lived a "rags to riches" life in which she progressed from living on benefits to being named the world's first billionaire author by "Forbes".
J. K. Rowling | Introduction
Rowling, her publishers, and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the "Harry Potter" films, have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyright. The worldwide popularity of the "Harry Potter" series has led to the appearance of a number of locally produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works, sparking efforts to ban or contain them. Another area of legal dispute involves a series of injunctions obtained by Rowling and her publishers to prohibit anyone from reading her books before their official release date. The injunction drew fire from civil liberties and free speech campaigners and sparked debates over the "right to read".
J. K. Rowling | Legal disputes
The closest you could come is to say, 'How do you feel about your children?'" Rowling also revealed that the lawsuit has "decimated her creative work" over the prior month, causing her to cease work on a new novel. In his testimony, Vander Ark said that he too had had reservations about publishing the encyclopedia and that the publishing company had talked him into it. "It's been difficult because there has been a lot of criticism, obviously, and that was never the intention. ... This has been an important part of my life for the last nine years or so," he said.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books | Trial
Neil Blair, Rowling’s lawyer, said the Harry Potter downloads were 'unauthorised and unlawful'...Rowling's novels aren't the only ones to be available from Scribd. A quick search throws up novels from Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Jeffrey Archer, Ken Follett, Philippa Gregory, and J.R.R. Tolkien."
Scribd | Accusations of copyright infringement
RDR Books’ defense team, which includes solo San Francisco practitioner, Lizbeth Hasse of the Creative Industry Law Group, solo New York practitioner David Hammer, and the Fair Use Project at Stanford University Law School, has replied to the suit, arguing: Rowling stated that her efforts to halt the publishing of the Lexicon have been crushing her creativity, and said that she was not sure if she has "the will or the heart" to now publish her own encyclopedia.
The Harry Potter Lexicon | Lawsuit
In 2007, during the Edinburgh Book Festival, author Ian Rankin claimed that his wife spotted Rowling "scribbling away" at a detective novel in a café. Rankin later retracted the story, claiming it was a joke, but the rumour persisted, with a report in 2012 in "The Guardian" speculating that Rowling's next book would be a crime novel. In an interview with Stephen Fry in 2005, Rowling had claimed that she would much prefer to write any subsequent books under a pseudonym, but had previously conceded to Jeremy Paxman in 2003 that if she did, the press would probably "find out in seconds".
J. K. Rowling | "Cormoran Strike"
In May 2008, bookseller Waterstones asked Rowling and 12 other writers (Lisa Appignanesi, Margaret Atwood, Lauren Child, Sebastian Faulks, Richard Ford, Neil Gaiman, Nick Hornby, Doris Lessing, Michael Rosen, Axel Scheffler, Tom Stoppard and Irvine Welsh) to compose a short piece of their own choosing on a single A5 card, which would then be sold at auction in aid of the charities Dyslexia Action and English PEN. Rowling's contribution was an 800-word "Harry Potter" prequel that concerns Harry's father, James Potter, and godfather, Sirius Black, and takes place three years before Harry was born. The cards were collated and sold for charity in book form in August 2008.
J. K. Rowling | Other philanthropic work
Stouffer also drew a number of other comparisons, such as a castle on a lake, a receiving room and wooden doors. Portions of "Rah" were originally published in booklet form in 1986 by Ande Publishing Company, a company founded by Stouffer together with a group of friends and family. Ande Publishing filed for bankruptcy in September 1987 without selling any of its booklets in the United States or elsewhere. Rowling has stated that she first visited the United States in 1998. Rowling, along with Scholastic Press (her American publisher) and Warner Bros. (holders of the series' film rights), pre-empted Stouffer in 2002 with a suit of their own seeking a declaratory judgment that they had not infringed on any of Stouffer's works.
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | Nancy Stouffer
Rowling says that she went to her 50th birthday party wearing a dress containing the "lost manuscript" of "The Ickabog". Rowling has made some adjustments to her original script after feedback from her children. Rowling announced that she would release the book online in 34 free online daily instalments between 26 May and 10 July 2020. Rowling said that "I’ve decided to publish The Ickabog for free online, so children on lockdown, or even those back at school during these strange, unsettling times, can read it or have it read to them." The first two chapters were released on 26 May 2020.
The Ickabog | Background and release
Starting on 26 May 2020 and running until 10 July 2020, Rowling published a new children's story online. "The Ickabog" was first mooted as a "political fairytale" for children in a 2007 "Time" magazine interview. Rowling shelved the story and decided to publish it for children as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A print edition is scheduled for November 2020 and will contain illustrations selected from entries to a competition running concurrently with the online publication.
J. K. Rowling | "The Ickabog"
She has said that the last chapter of the book was written "in something like 1990", as part of her earliest work on the series. Rowling also revealed she originally wrote the last words to be "something like: 'Only those who he loved could see his lightning scar. Rowling changed this because she did not want people to think Voldemort would rise again and to say that Harry's mission was over.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Rowling on finishing the book
Rowling also demanded that Coca-Cola, the winner in the race to tie in their products to the film series, donate US$18 million to the American charity Reading Is Fundamental, as well as several community charity programs. Steve Kloves wrote the screenplays for all but the fifth film; Rowling assisted him in the writing process, ensuring that his scripts did not contradict future books in the series. She told Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) certain secrets about their characters before they were revealed in the books. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) asked her if Harry died at any point in the series; Rowling answered him by saying, "You have a death scene", thereby not explicitly answering the question.
J. K. Rowling | "Harry Potter" films
The book was published internationally on 4 December 2008. Rowling also wrote an 800-word prequel in 2008 as part of a fundraiser organised by the bookseller Waterstones. All three of these books contain extra information about the wizarding world not included in the original novels. In 2016, she released three new e-books: "", "Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists" and "Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies".
Harry Potter | In-universe books
The United Kingdom's domestic abuse commissioner Nicole Jacobs formally advised "The Sun" that it was unacceptable "to repeat and magnify the voice of someone who openly admits to violence against a partner". In December 1993, Rowling and her then infant daughter moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to be near Rowling's sister with three chapters of what would become "Harry Potter" in her suitcase. Seven years after graduating from university, Rowling saw herself as a failure. Her marriage had failed, and she was jobless with a dependent child, but she described her failure as liberating and allowing her to focus on writing.
J. K. Rowling | Marriage, divorce, and single parenthood
The trial began on 14 April 2008 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, with Rowling testifying on day one and Vander Ark testifying on day two. During her testimony, Rowling reiterated her claim that the Lexicon contained minimal commentary and merely recycled her writing, adding nothing other than "facetious asides and etymologies of the easiest kind." Rowling referred to the "Lexicon" as "wholesale theft of 17 years of my hard work", and criticized it as "sloppy" and characterized by "very little research". In sometimes emotional testimony, Rowling recalled beginning the "Potter" books when she was an impoverished 25-year-old single mother, nearly coming to tears when saying, "These characters continue to mean so much to me over a long period of time.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books | Trial
On her website, Rowling said, "Despite repeated requests, the publishers have refused to even countenance making any changes to the book to ensure that it does not infringe my rights." On his website, Vander Ark responded, I have worked diligently with everyone associated with the books to make sure we don't violate copyright. There have been a number of times when I have talked with Jo's people and held back information they didn't want published or modified material on the Lexicon to make sure they approve. I got specific permission from Warner Bros. to use film images and the illustrations from the books.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books | Pre-trial
On 8 September 2008, Judge Patterson decided the case in Rowling's favor, claiming that "because the Lexicon appropriates too much of Rowling's creative work for its purposes as a reference guide, a permanent injunction must issue to prevent the possible proliferation of works that do the same and thus deplete the incentive for original authors to create new works." Patterson awarded the plaintiffs $750 for infringement of each of the seven Harry Potter novels and $750 for infringement of each of two official companion books (i.e., "Quidditch Through the Ages" and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"); the minimum amount possible, "since the Lexicon has not been published and thus plaintiffs have suffered no harm beyond the fact of the infringement." Patterson was careful to draw a distinction between the Lexicon book and other potential guidebooks, saying, "While the Lexicon, in its current state, is not a fair use of the Harry Potter works, reference works that share the Lexicon's purpose of aiding readers of literature generally should be encouraged rather than stifled".
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books | Verdict
Later, she started to attend a Church of Scotland congregation at the time she was writing "Harry Potter". Her eldest daughter, Jessica, was baptised there. In a 2006 interview with "Tatler", Rowling noted that, "like Graham Greene, my faith is sometimes about if my faith will return. It's important to me." She has said that she has struggled with doubt, that she believes in an afterlife, and that her faith plays a part in her books. In a 2012 radio interview, she said that she was a member of the Scottish Episcopal Church, a province of the Anglican Communion.
J. K. Rowling | Religion
In December 1999, the third novel, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", won the Smarties Prize, making Rowling the first person to win the award three times running. 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 lost the Book of the Year prize to Seamus Heaney's translation of "Beowulf".
J. K. Rowling | "Harry Potter"
J. K. Rowling has repeatedly denied that her books lead children into witchcraft. In an interview with CNN in 1999, she said, I absolutely did not start writing these books to encourage any child into witchcraft. I'm laughing slightly because to me, the idea is absurd. I have met thousands of children and not even one time has a child come up to me and said, "Ms Rowling, I'm so glad I've read these books because now I want to be a witch." In an interview on the "Donny & Marie Show" in 1999, Rowling said that "You have a perfect right, of course, as every parent does, and I'm a parent, to decide what your child is exposed to.
Religious debates over the Harry Potter series | Rowling's response
Rowling completed the book while staying at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh in January 2007, and left a signed statement on a marble bust of Hermes in her room which read: "J. K. Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (552) on 11 January 2007". In a statement on her website, she said, "I've never felt such a mixture of extreme emotions in my life, never dreamed I could feel simultaneously heartbroken and euphoric." She compared her mixed feelings to those expressed by Charles Dickens in the preface of the 1850 edition of "David Copperfield", "a two-years' imaginative task".
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Rowling on finishing the book
While she points out "as her critics say, Rowling is no Dickens", she says that Rowling "has willed into a fictional being, in every book, legions of new characters, places, spells, rules and scores of unimagined twists and subplots".
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Critical response
"Harry Potter" series by J. K. Rowling Other books (partial list):
Gili Bar-Hillel | Translated books
Le Guin has claimed that she doesn't feel Rowling "ripped her off", but that she felt that Rowling's books were overpraised for supposed originality, and that Rowling "could have been more gracious about her predecessors. My incredulity was at the critics who found the first book wonderfully original. She has many virtues, but originality isn't one of them. That hurt."
Harry Potter influences and analogues | "A Wizard of Earthsea"
British author J. K. Rowling did not deliberately name the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from her "Harry Potter" series of books after the hogwort. It was only after the books were published, when a friend reminded her of seeing the plant in the Kew Gardens many years beforehand, that Rowling speculated that the name had remained in her subconscious ever since.
Croton capitatus | In fiction
Rowling started writing the book soon after finishing work on the seventh "Harry Potter" novel. During an interview with her fandom she also stated that she used other books as a source of inspiration for the tales. More specifically, "The Tale of the Three Brothers", the only story included entirely in "The Deathly Hallows", was inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale" from "The Canterbury Tales".
The Tales of Beedle the Bard | Publication history
In a statement released to the media, Rowling responded favorably to the verdict: I took no pleasure at all in bringing legal action and am delighted that this issue has been resolved favorably. I went to court to uphold the right of authors everywhere to protect their own original work. The court has upheld that right. The proposed book took an enormous amount of my work and added virtually no original commentary of its own. Many books have been published which offer original insights into the world of Harry Potter. The Lexicon just is not one of them. The Stanford Law School fair use project, which had represented RDR, said,
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books | Reaction
Since first coming to wide notice in the late 1990s, the "Harry Potter" book series by J. K. Rowling has been the subject of a number of legal disputes. Rowling, her various publishers and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the "Harry Potter" films, have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyrights, and also have fielded accusations of copyright theft themselves. The worldwide popularity of the "Harry Potter" series has led to the appearance of a number of locally-produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works, leading to efforts to ban or contain them. While these legal proceedings have countered a number of cases of outright piracy, other attempts have targeted not-for-profit endeavours and have been criticised.
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | Introduction
Critics have observed similarities between Ibbotson's "Platform 13" in "The Secret of Platform 13" (1994) and J.K. Rowling's "Platform 9 3/4" in the "Harry Potter" books (from 1997), both located at King's Cross station in London. The journalist Amanda Craig has written about the similarities: "Ibbotson would seem to have at least as good a case for claiming plagiarism as the American author currently suing J. K. Rowling (Nancy Stouffer), but unlike her, Ibbotson says she would 'like to shake her (Rowling) by the hand. I think we all borrow from each other as writers'."
Eva Ibbotson | "The Secret of Platform 13" and "Harry Potter"
Among Greenwood's specialities were Harry Potter books, leading, on one occasion, to an argument with the series' author J. K. Rowling. "I had bought a lot at Sothebys. It was a drawing Rowling had done of a little boy. Also there was a hand-coloured invitation to Rowling's daughter's 2nd birthday party (before Rowling's success, when she was living in Leith) and a list she had made of potential character names for the first Harry Potter book. When I put this on eBay, Rowling's literary agents demanded they be removed from sale due to 'breach of copyright.' I argued there was no breach of copyright if no pictures of the items appeared and so I sold them without images instead.
Adrian Greenwood | Disagreement with J. K. Rowling
Rowling and her publishers have brought a series of legal injunctions to ensure the books' secrecy before their launch. These injunctions have drawn criticism from civil liberties campaigners over their potentially sweeping powers over individual freedoms. In 2003, in an attempt to maintain secrecy over the impending release of the fifth "Harry Potter" book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", Rowling and her publishers sought and received a groundbreaking injunction against "the person or persons who has or have physical possession of a copy of the said book or any part thereof without the consent of the Claimants".
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | Legal injunctions
On October 31, 2007, J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers filed a lawsuit against RDR Books over the publication of Vander Ark's Lexicon in book form. The lawsuit was heard in a New York court on April 14, 2008. Whilst some sources refer to Vander Ark being sued, the lawsuit actually names only RDR Books. The lawsuit states: The result of the lawsuit was that the book could be published, but not in its present form. A modified version of the book was published in 2009. This case went to bench trial in the New York Federal District Court of Judge Robert Patterson on April 14, 2008.
The Harry Potter Lexicon | Lawsuit
Joanne Rowling ( ; born 31 July 1965), better known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British writer and philanthropist. She is best known for writing the "Harry Potter" fantasy series, which has won multiple awards and sold more than 500 million copies, becoming the best-selling book series in history. The books are the basis of a popular film series, over which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts and was a producer on the final films. She also writes crime fiction under the pen name Robert Galbraith. Born in Yate, Gloucestershire, Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International when she conceived the idea for the "Harry Potter" series while on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990.
J. K. Rowling | Introduction
While many describe the books as secular or Satanic, many writers, including Rowling herself, have gone to great lengths to demonstrate that the books actively promote Christian values. Rowling attended a Church of Scotland congregation while writing "Harry Potter" and her eldest daughter, Jessica, was baptised into that faith. "I go to church myself", she told MTV in 2007, "I don't take any responsibility for the lunatic fringes of my own religion". In 2000, when asked if she was a Christian by journalist Max Wyman of "The Vancouver Sun", she replied: Yes, I am, which seems to offend the religious right far worse than if I said I thought there was no God.
Religious debates over the Harry Potter series | Christianity in the novels
The Dutch courts ruled that the books did not constitute parody and thus were not allowed to be sold in the Netherlands. Later that year, as the Dutch translation "Tanja Grotter en de magische contrabas" was still legal in Belgium, the Flemish publishers Roularta Books decided to print 1,000 copies (and no more) in order to let people decide whether it was plagiarism, hoping that under those circumstances Rowling and her publishers would not sue. Rowling did not sue, but as there was a lot of interest in the book (Dutch people could buy the book by postal order from another Flemish publisher, Boekhandel VanIn) it was soon sold out.
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | International publications
Commenting on the similarity, Le Guin said that she did not feel that J. K. Rowling "ripped her off", but that Rowling's books received too much praise for supposed originality, and that Rowling "could have been more gracious about her predecessors. My incredulity was at the critics who found the first book wonderfully original. She has many virtues, but originality isn't one of them. That hurt."
A Wizard of Earthsea | Influence
In early 1998, an auction was held in the United States for the rights to publish the novel, and was won by Scholastic Inc., for US$105,000. Rowling said that she "nearly died" when she heard the news. In October 1998, Scholastic published "Philosopher's Stone" in the US under the title of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", a change Rowling says she now regrets and would have fought if she had been in a better position at the time. Rowling moved from her flat with the money from the Scholastic sale, into 19 Hazelbank Terrace in Edinburgh. Its sequel, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", was published in July 1998 and again Rowling won the Smarties Prize.
J. K. Rowling | "Harry Potter"
In December 2005, Rowling stated on her web site, "2006 will be the year when I write the final book in the "Harry Potter" series." Updates then followed in her online diary chronicling the progress of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", with the release date of 21 July 2007. The book itself was finished on 11 January 2007 in the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh, where she scrawled a message on the back of a bust of Hermes. It read: "J. K. Rowling finished writing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" in this room (552) on 11 January 2007." Rowling herself has stated that the last chapter of the final book (in fact, the epilogue) was completed "in something like 1990".
Harry Potter | Completion of the series
While the series is legally published in Russia, it is not available in translation due to a lawsuit on behalf of J. K. Rowling and Time Warner. Having failed to obtain a cease and desist order in Russia, Rowling and Time Warner targeted publication in the Netherlands, where first translations of international editions are commonly published. In 2003, courts there prevented the distribution of a Dutch translation of the first in the series, "Tanya Grotter and the Magical Double Bass", after Rowling and Time Warner's lawyers issued a cease and desist order, arguing that the Grotter books violated copyright law, specifically infringing Rowling's right to control derivative works.
Tanya Grotter | Legal history
As a child, Rowling has said her early influences included "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by C. S. Lewis, "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge, and "Manxmouse" by Paul Gallico.
J. K. Rowling | Influences
Rowling was recognised with the Order of the Forest for demanding that 16 publishers around the world print her books using "eco-friendly" papers. The last book in the Potter series is considered within the industry to be the most environmentally friendly in publishing history. In 2008, Rowling blocked the Finnish publication of her latest Harry Potter novel on paper from Finland because it lacked the ecologically friendly certification she favours.
Politics of J. K. Rowling | Green values
The books have been the subject of a number of legal proceedings, stemming from various conflicts over copyright and trademark infringements. The popularity and high market value of the series has led Rowling, her publishers, and film distributor Warner Bros. to take legal measures to protect their copyright, which have included banning the sale of "Harry Potter" imitations, targeting the owners of websites over the "Harry Potter" domain name, and suing author Nancy Stouffer to counter her accusations that Rowling had plagiarised her work. Various religious fundamentalists have claimed that the books promote witchcraft and religions such as Wicca and are therefore unsuitable for children, while a number of critics have criticised the books for promoting various political agendas.
Harry Potter | Controversies
The Ickabog is a fairy tale by British author J. K. Rowling. The story was published in installments by Rowling online, before its official publication in November 2020. "The Ickabog" is Rowling's first children's book since "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was published in 2007.
The Ickabog | Introduction
She wrote in many cafés, especially Nicolson's Café (owned by her brother-in-law), and the Elephant House, wherever she could get Jessica to fall asleep. In a 2001 BBC interview, Rowling denied the rumour that she wrote in local cafés to escape from her unheated flat, pointing out that it had heating. Rowling stated that she wrote in cafés because coffee was available without her breaking the flow of writing, and that taking her baby out for a walk helped her to fall asleep.
J. K. Rowling | Marriage, divorce, and single parenthood
The site had hosted illegally created e-books of "Harry Potter", which Rowling had never agreed to be published. In 2005, Rowling warned her fans on her website that various "signed" "Harry Potter" memorabilia appearing for sale on eBay did not in fact use her signature. She urged her fans to protest eBay to prevent other children from being swindled. In 2007, Rowling launched lawsuits against a number of users of the site, obtaining a series of stay orders preventing them from selling her work. However eBay claimed that in her dealings with the media, Rowling had falsely claimed that her injunctions had been against eBay itself.
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | Other accusations of infringement
Rowling expanded the Harry Potter universe with several short books produced for various charities. In 2001, she released "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (a purported Hogwarts textbook) and "Quidditch Through the Ages" (a book Harry reads for fun). Proceeds from the sale of these two books benefited the charity Comic Relief. In 2007, Rowling composed seven handwritten copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard", a collection of fairy tales that is featured in the final novel, one of which was auctioned to raise money for the Children's High Level Group, a fund for mentally disabled children in poor countries.
Harry Potter | In-universe books
K. Rowling has earned away from her, which is the right to tell us where these mysteries end." Rowling agreed, saying, "I want the readers who have, in many instances, grown up with Harry, to embark on the last adventure they will share with him without knowing where they are going."
Melissa Anelli | The Leaky Cauldron
"The Daily Telegraph" rated it 3 out of 5 stars, saying "a fun but lightweight fairy tale that lacks Harry Potter's magic". "The Scotsman" reviewed it positively saying, "JK Rowling's new novel The Ickabog leaves 'tantalising cliffhangers. "The Times" also rated positively, saying "cake and a monster is the escapism we all need", and rated it 5 out of 5 stars.
The Ickabog | Reception
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. and J. K. Rowling v. RDR Books, 575 F.Supp.2d 513 (SDNY 2008) was a copyright lawsuit brought on 31 October 2007 by the media company Warner Bros. and "Harry Potter" author J. K. Rowling against RDR Books, an independent publishing company based in Muskegon, Michigan. Lawyers for Rowling and Time Warner argued that RDR's attempt to publish for profit a print facsimile of "The Harry Potter Lexicon", a free online guide to the "Harry Potter" fictional universe, constituted an infringement of their copyright and was not protected by the affirmative defense of fair use. The trial was held from 14–17 April 2008 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books | Introduction
Every time I've been asked if I believe in God, I've said yes, because I do, but no one ever really has gone any more deeply into it than that, and I have to say that does suit me, because if I talk too freely about that I think the intelligent reader, whether 10 or 60, will be able to guess what's coming in the books. "Personally", she said of her religious faith, "I think you can see that in the books. Of course, Hogwarts is a multifaith school." Rowling claims to have been very careful not to colour her novels in an overtly religious way, lest one faith be given prominence over any other.
Religious debates over the Harry Potter series | Christianity in the novels
I'd love to see a "Grimble" film. As far as I know, these last two fine pieces of literature are out of print, so if any publishers ever read this, could you please dust them off and put them back in print so other people can read them?" On a number of occasions, Rowling has cited her admiration for French novelist Colette.
Harry Potter influences and analogues | Other favourites
After eight other publishers had rejected "Philosopher's Stone", Bloomsbury offered Rowling a £2,500 advance for its publication. Despite Rowling's statement that she did not have any particular age group in mind when beginning to write the "Harry Potter" books, the publishers initially targeted children aged nine to eleven. On the eve of publishing, Rowling was asked by her publishers to adopt a more gender-neutral pen name in order to appeal to the male members of this age group, fearing that they would not be interested in reading a novel they knew to be written by a woman. She elected to use J.
Harry Potter | Publishing history
Another area of legal dispute involves a series of injunctions obtained by Rowling and her publishers to prohibit anyone from distributing or reading her books before their official release dates. The sweeping powers of these injunctions have sometimes drawn criticism from civil liberties and free speech campaigners and led to debates over the "right to read". One of these injunctions was used in an unrelated trespassing case as precedent supporting the issuing of an injunction against a John Doe. Outside these controversies, a number of particular incidents related to "Harry Potter" have also led, or almost led, to legal action.
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | Introduction
Bloomsbury countered with a statement of its own, saying that "This claim is without merit and will be defended vigorously," and that Rowling "had never heard of Adrian Jacobs nor seen, read or heard of his book "Willy the Wizard" until this claim was first made in 2004, almost seven years after the publication of the first "Harry Potter" book." The Jacobs estate, driven by his son and grandson, have published a website with details and excerpts from the book, according to the "Toronto Star". In July 2010, the estate filed suit against Rowling's American publisher, Scholastic, demanding that the company burn all copies of "Goblet of Fire".
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | Adrian Jacobs
Stouffer appealed the decision in 2004, but in 2005 the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling. In 2006 she stated on her website that she was planning to republish her books and was entertaining the possibility of another lawsuit against Warner Bros., J. K. Rowling and Scholastic Press. "The Legend of Rah and the Muggles" is out of print. In early 2001, it was published by Thurman House, LLC, a Maryland publishing company. Thurman House, formed by Ottenheimer Publishers to republish the works of Nancy Stouffer, was closed when Ottenheimer ceased operations in 2002 after filing for bankruptcy.
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | Nancy Stouffer
In 2003, legal pressure from "Harry Potter"'s publishers led an Indian publisher to stop publication of "Harry Potter in Calcutta" by Uttam Ghosh; a work in which Harry meets figures from Bengali literature. The case was settled out of court. 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 Dmitri Yemets' popular Russian series about a female apprentice wizard. Rowling and her publishers sued, arguing that the Grotter books violate copyright law. Yemets and his original Moscow-based publishers, Eksmo, argued that the books constitute a parody, permitted under copyright.
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | International publications
Other authors besides J.K. Rowling whose works they have published are Wim de Bie, Jan Blokker, Hugo Brandt Corstius, Arjan Ederveen, Karel Eykman, Jonas Geirnaert, Elma van Haren, Elke Heidenreich, Willem Frederik Hermans, Judith Herzberg, Isol, Freek de Jonge, Kamagurka, Hanco Kolk, Kees van Kooten, Kim van Kooten, Gerrit Kouwenaar, Jhumpa Lahiri, David Leavitt, Nicolaas Matsier, Colum McCann, Ian McEwan, Rebecca Miller, Joshua Mowll, Carel Peeters, Daniel Pennac, Ethel Portnoy, Frederick Reiken, Keith Ridgway, Jess Row, Wim T. Schippers, Herr Seele, Tom Sharpe, Posy Simmonds, Matthew Skelton, Ronald Snijders, Art Spiegelman, Peter van Straaten, Joost Swarte, Jacques Tardi, Stefan Themerson, Franciszka Themerson, Oyvind Torseter, Henny Vrienten, Elly de Waard, Wallace & Gromit, Ursus Wehrli, Micha Wertheim, and Peter de Wit.
Uitgeverij De Harmonie | Introduction
In 1995, Rowling finished her manuscript for "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" which was typed on an old manual typewriter. Upon the enthusiastic response of Bryony Evens, a reader who had been asked to review the book's first three chapters, the Fulham-based Christopher Little Literary Agency agreed to represent Rowling in her quest for a publisher. The book was submitted to twelve publishing houses, all of which rejected the manuscript. A year later, she was finally given the green light (and a £1,500 advance) by editor Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury, a publishing house in London. The decision to publish Rowling's book owes much to Alice Newton, the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chairman, who was given the first chapter to review by her father and immediately demanded the next.
J. K. Rowling | "Harry Potter"
Her mother's death heavily affected Rowling's writing, and she channelled her own feelings of loss by writing about Harry's own feelings of loss in greater detail in the first book.
J. K. Rowling | Inspiration and mother's death
In June 2009, the estate of Adrian Jacobs, a children's author who died in 1997, sued Rowling's publishers, Bloomsbury, for £500 million, accusing her of having plagiarised "substantial parts" of his work in writing the novel "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". In a statement, Jacobs's family claimed that a scene in "Goblet of Fire" was substantially similar to Jacobs's book "The Adventures of Willy the Wizard: Livid Land": "Both Willy and Harry are required to work out the exact nature of the main task of the contest which they both achieve in a bathroom assisted by clues from helpers, in order to discover how to rescue human hostages imprisoned by a community of half-human, half-animal fantasy creatures." They also launched a joint suit against Rowling and her publishers.
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | Adrian Jacobs
Rowling has never openly credited any single author with inspiration, saying, "I haven't got the faintest idea where my ideas come from, or how my imagination works. I'm just grateful that it does, because it gives me more entertainment than it gives anyone else." However, she has mentioned a number of favourite authors as probable influences in her creation of "Harry Potter". The works are listed roughly in order of publication.
Harry Potter influences and analogues | Acknowledged influences
After working as a researcher and bilingual secretary in London for Amnesty International, Rowling moved with her then-boyfriend to Manchester, where she worked at the Chamber of Commerce. In 1990, while she was on a four-hour-delayed train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry "came fully formed" into her mind. When she had reached her Clapham Junction flat, she began to write immediately. In December, Rowling's mother, Anne, died after ten years suffering from multiple sclerosis. Rowling was writing "Harry Potter" at the time and had never told her mother about it.
J. K. Rowling | Inspiration and mother's death
The British author J. K. Rowling, known for writing "Harry Potter" and other Wizarding World works, has a variety of political views. Rowling stated in 2000 that she is left-wing and said "there is a certain amount of political stuff in ["Harry Potter"]. But I also feel that every reader will bring his own agenda to the book. People who send their children to boarding schools seem to feel that I'm on their side. I'm not. Practicing Wiccans think I'm also a witch. I'm not." In 2002, she said her biggest literary influence was muckraker Jessica Mitford, whom she described as a "self-taught socialist".
Politics of J. K. Rowling | Introduction
Far from promoting a particular religion, some argue, the "Harry Potter" novels go out of their way to avoid discussing religion at all. However, the author of the series, J. K. Rowling, describes herself as a practising Christian, and many have noted the Christian references which she includes in the final novel "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". In America, calls for the books to be banned from schools have led to legal challenges often on the grounds that witchcraft is a government-recognised religion and that to allow the books to be held in public schools violates the separation of church and state.
Religious debates over the Harry Potter series | Introduction
Yale professor, literary scholar, and critic Harold Bloom raised criticisms of the books' literary merits, saying, "Rowling's mind is so governed by clichés and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing." A. S. Byatt authored an op-ed article in "The New York Times" calling Rowling's universe a "secondary secondary world, made up of intelligently patchworked derivative motifs from all sorts of children's literature ... written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons, and the exaggerated (more exciting, not threatening) mirror-worlds of soaps, reality TV and celebrity gossip." Michael Rosen, a novelist and poet, advocated the books were not suited for children, as they would be unable to grasp the complex themes.
Harry Potter | Literary criticism
Rowling stated that she had "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" "planned for years," but she spent an entire two months going over her plan before she began writing the story seriously. This was a lesson learned after she did not check the plan for "Goblet of Fire" and had to rewrite an entire third of the book. She started writing the book before her second child, David, was born, but she took a break to care for him. The first chapter, "The Other Minister", which features meetings between the Muggle Prime Minister, Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, and his successor, Rufus Scrimgeour, was a concept Rowling tried to start in "Philosopher's Stone", "Prisoner of Azkaban", and "Order of the Phoenix", but she found "it finally works" in "Half-Blood Prince".
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Background
Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, before her remarriage, her name was Joanne Rowling. Her publishers asked that she use two initials rather than her full name, anticipating the possibility of the target audience of young boys not wanting to read a book written by a woman. As she had no middle name, she chose "K" (for Kathleen) as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother. She calls herself Jo. Following her remarriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business. During the Leveson Inquiry, she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling and her entry in "Who's Who" lists her name also as Joanne Kathleen Rowling.
J. K. Rowling | Name
In 1982, Rowling took the entrance exams for Oxford University but was not accepted and earned a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter. Martin Sorrell, a French professor at Exeter, remembers "a quietly competent student, with a denim jacket and dark hair, who, in academic terms, gave the appearance of doing what was necessary". Rowling recalls doing little work, preferring to read Dickens and Tolkien. After a year of study in Paris, Rowling graduated from Exeter in 1986. In 1988, Rowling wrote a short essay about her time studying Classics titled "What was the Name of that Nymph Again? or Greek and Roman Studies Recalled"; it was published by the University of Exeter's journal "Pegasus".
J. K. Rowling | Education
The literary estate of J.R.R. Tolkien has declared that "There and Back Again" is an infringement upon their rights to "The Hobbit"; Murphy has stated that, although she disagrees, and considers it to be a transformative work of feminist commentary, the book's publication has been discontinued so as to obviate further dispute.
There and Back Again (novel) | Legal issues
The Harry Potter book series by JK Rowling has resulted in numerous controversies over its publication and content, primarily in the realms of law and religion. For further information see:
Controversy over the Harry Potter series | Introduction
Additionally, J. K. Rowling answered questions from an open letter written by the site.
Harry Potter Fan Zone | Overview
I never said it was the next thing I'd do." At the end of 2007, Rowling said that the encyclopaedia could take up to ten years to complete. In June 2011, Rowling announced that future "Harry Potter" projects, and all electronic downloads, would be concentrated in a new website, called Pottermore. The site includes 18,000 words of information on characters, places and objects in the "Harry Potter" universe.
J. K. Rowling | Subsequent "Harry Potter" publications
Then I changed "Doomspell" to "Triwizard Tournament". Then I was teetering between "Goblet of Fire" and "Triwizard Tournament". In the end, I preferred "Goblet of Fire" because it's got that kind of "cup of destiny" feel about it, which is the theme of the book." Rowling mentioned that she originally wrote a Weasley relative named Malfalda, who, according to Rowling, "was the daughter of the 'second cousin who's a stockbroker' mentioned in "Philosopher's Stone". This stockbroker had been very rude to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in the past, but now he and his (Muggle) wife had inconveniently produced a witch, they came back to the Weasleys asking for their help in introducing her to wizarding society before she starts at Hogwarts." Malfalda was supposed to be a Slytherin and was to fill in the Rita Skeeter subplot, but she was eventually removed because "there were obvious limitations to what an eleven year old closeted at school could discover." Rowling considered Rita Skeeter to be "much more flexible." Rowling also admitted that the fourth book was the most difficult to write at the time because she noticed a giant plot hole halfway through writing.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Development
Some critics discussed the implications of this statement. "The New York Times" columnist Edward Rothstein said that "Ms. Rowling may think of Dumbledore as gay"; however, "there is no reason why anyone else should". The East Tennessee State University's student newspaper accused Rowling of lying, saying her answer was a publicity stunt. Michelle Smith quoted the Death of the Author principle, stating that Rowling's subsequent commentary is irrelevant to the understanding of the books. "Slate" quotes an attendee of the book talk who said, "It was clear that JKR didn't plan to out Dumbledore. She just cares about being true to her readers." Mike Thomas of the "Orlando Sentinel" said that upon reflection, Dumbledore was gay from the beginning, and that this neatly explains the behaviour of his character and his relationship with Grindelwald.
Albus Dumbledore | Sexuality
Patterson concluded that, "Because it serves ... reference purposes, rather than the entertainment or aesthetic purposes of the original works, the Lexicon's use is transformative and does not supplant the objects of the Harry Potter works." However, he also noted that, "The Lexicon's use of Rowling's companion books is transformative to a much lesser extent. The content of the companion books takes on the informational purpose of the schoolbooks they represent in the novels. As Vander Ark testified, the companion books are 'essentially encyclopedias already'." "The transformative character of the Lexicon is diminished, however, because the Lexicon's use of the original Harry Potter works is not consistently transformative," Patterson ruled.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books | Verdict
Rowling found it difficult to finish "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" because she was afraid it would not live up to the expectations raised by "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". After delivering the manuscript to Bloomsbury on schedule, she took it back for six weeks of revision. In early drafts of the book, the ghost Nearly Headless Nick sang a self-composed song explaining his condition and the circumstances of his unknown death. This was cut because the book's editor did not care for the poem, which has been subsequently published as an extra on J. K. Rowling's official website.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Development
David Yates directed, and Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay, having taken over the position from Steve Kloves. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was released on 15 July 2009. David Yates directed again, and Kloves returned to write the script. Warner Bros. filmed the final instalment of the series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", in two segments, with part one being released on 19 November 2010 and part two being released on 15 July 2011. Yates directed both films. Warner Bros. took considerable notice of Rowling's desires when drafting her contract. One of her principal stipulations was the films be shot in Britain with an all-British cast, which has been generally adhered to.
J. K. Rowling | "Harry Potter" films
Vander Ark and Rapoport considered appealing the decision, and said that the book could be edited until it complies with the ruling. Patterson said he expected this case could go as far as the Supreme Court. In December 2008, RDR Books dropped its appeal, and instead decided to release another unauthorized "Harry Potter" guide ("The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction and Related Materials"), which would include far more commentary than the original. The book was released on January 16, 2009.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books | Appeal
Rowling cites Jane Austen as her favourite author and a major influence. Rowling has said: "My attitude to Jane Austen is accurately summed up by that wonderful line from "Cold Comfort Farm": 'One of the disadvantages of almost universal education was that all kinds of people gained a familiarity with one's favourite books. It gave one a curious feeling; like seeing a drunken stranger wrapped in one's dressing gown.'" The "Harry Potter" series is known for its twist endings, and Rowling has stated that, "I have never set up a surprise ending in a Harry Potter book without knowing I can never, and will never, do it anywhere near as well as Austen did in "Emma"."
Harry Potter influences and analogues | "Emma"
Later, chapters three to five were published on 27 May 2020. The final chapter, 64, was published on 10 July 2020. In the first 24 hours, "The Ickabog" website had more than 5 million views from 50 countries. "The Ickabog" is expected to be released as a published book, e-book and audiobook in November 2020. Rowling has said that she will donate her royalties from the book to charity. Rowling also organised an illustration competition with ideas for images needed for each chapter of the book. The best illustrations will be featured in the published book. The book will be published by Hachette UK.
The Ickabog | Background and release
K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series. After the publication of "Gregor the Overlander" in 2003, Collins moved with her family to rural Connecticut. There she focused more on her writing than her other pursuits, and published five books in four years, including the rest of "The Underland Chronicles". "Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods" was written at around the same time as her first picture book, "When Charlie McButton Lost Power". During this time period, Collins continued writing for children's TV, describing her scripts as "an excellent mental break ... because no one dies in [them]". Collins has listed two main sources of influence in her writing of "The Underland Chronicles".
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods | Development
Stouffer later asserted that any copies of the book published by Thurman House are unauthorized because the publisher failed to honour its contractual obligations to her.
Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series | Nancy Stouffer
Steve Kloves wrote the screenplays for all but the fifth film, which was penned by Michael Goldenberg. Kloves had direct assistance from J.K. Rowling, though she allowed him what he described as "tremendous elbow room". Rowling asked Kloves to remain faithful to the spirit of the books; thus, the plot and tone of each film and its corresponding book are virtually the same, albeit with some changes and omissions for purposes of cinematic style, time, and budget constraints. Michael Goldenberg also received input from Rowling during his adaptation of the fifth novel; Goldenberg was originally considered to adapt the first novel before the studio chose Kloves.
Harry Potter (film series) | Scripts
Writer J. K. Rowling cites several writers as influences in her creation of her bestselling "Harry Potter" series. Writers, journalists and critics have noted that the books also have a number of analogues; a wide range of literature, both classical and modern, which Rowling has not openly cited as influences. This article is divided into three sections. The first section lists those authors and books which Rowling has suggested as possible influences on "Harry Potter". The second section deals with those books which Rowling has cited as favourites without mentioning possible influences. The third section deals with those analogues which Rowling has not cited either as influences or as favourites but which others have claimed bear comparison with "Harry Potter".
Harry Potter influences and analogues | Introduction
"To which," she added, "I can only sigh, try seventeen years, Charles". She ended her message by saying ""Deathly Hallows" is my favourite, and that is the most wonderful way to finish the series". When asked before publication about the forthcoming book, Rowling stated that she could not change the ending even if she wanted. "These books have been plotted for such a long time, and for six books now, that they're all leading a certain direction. So, I really can't". She also commented that the final volume related closely to the previous book in the series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", "almost as though they are two-halves of the same novel".
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | Rowling on finishing the book
Jellia Jamb has supporting parts in some of the sequel books written by Baum's successors. She is prominent in "Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz" (1939), Ruth Plumly Thompson's nineteenth Oz book.
Jellia Jamb | In other books
After her exposure as the true author of "The Cuckoo's Calling" led to a massive increase in sales, Rowling announced she would donate all her royalties to the Army Benevolent Fund, claiming she had always intended to but never expected the book to be a best-seller. Rowling is a member of both English PEN and Scottish PEN. She was one of 50 authors to contribute to First Editions, Second Thoughts, a charity auction for English PEN. Each author hand annotated a first-edition copy of one of their books, in Rowling's case, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". The book was the highest-selling lot of the event and fetched £150,000 ($228,600).
J. K. Rowling | Other philanthropic work
Rowling of the Harry Potter series. In the following years Goldman published a series of novels with Beholder and short stories in a variety of journals. She has said that her style was influenced by Jenő Rejtő and Antal Szerb. In 2006 Goldman was described as "an outstanding new writer" by Hungarian editor Péter Tick.
Júlia Goldman | Career
Rowling's sister Dianne was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old. The family moved to the nearby village of Winterbourne when Rowling was four. As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories which she frequently read to her sister. Aged nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales. When she was a young teenager, her great-aunt gave her a copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, "Hons and Rebels." Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling read all of her books. Rowling has said that her teenage years were unhappy. Her home life was complicated by her mother's diagnosis with multiple sclerosis and a strained relationship with her father, with whom she is not on speaking terms.
J. K. Rowling | Childhood
J. K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, has recalled that "The Little White Horse" was her favourite book as a child. She has also identified it as one of very few with "direct influence on the Harry Potter books. The author always included details of what her characters were eating and I remember liking that. You may have noticed that I always list the food being eaten at Hogwarts."
Elizabeth Goudge | Influence
Gregory Maguire wrote a review in "The New York Times" for "Prisoner of Azkaban": in it he said, "So far, in terms of plot, the books do nothing new, but they do it brilliantly...so far, so good." In a newspaper review in "The New York Times", it was said that "'The Prisoner of Azkaban' may be the best 'Harry Potter' book yet". A reviewer for KidsReads said, "This crisply-paced fantasy will leave you hungry for the four additional Harry books that J.K. Rowling is working on. Harry's third year is a charm. Don't miss it." "Kirkus Reviews" did not give a starred review but said, "a properly pulse-pounding climax...The main characters and the continuing story both come along so smartly...that the book seems shorter than its page count: have readers clear their calendars if they are fans, or get out of the way if they are not." Martha V.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Critical reception
"I adored [Lewis' books] when I was a child," she told "The Sydney Morning Herald" in 2001, "I got so caught up I didn't think C. S. Lewis was especially preachy. Reading them now I find that his subliminal message isn't very subliminal." In an interview with Lev Grossman in 2005, she said, "There comes a point [in Lewis' "The Last Battle"] where Susan, who was the older girl, is lost to Narnia because she becomes interested in lipstick. She's become irreligious basically because she found sex. I have a big problem with that."
Religious debates over the Harry Potter series | Rowling and the Inklings
Rowling's youngest child, daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, to whom she dedicated "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", was born on 23 January 2005. In October 2012, a "New Yorker" magazine article stated that the Rowling family lived in a seventeenth-century Edinburgh house, concealed at the front by tall conifer hedges. Prior to October 2012, Rowling lived near the author Ian Rankin, who later said she was quiet and introspective, and that she seemed in her element with children. , the family resides in Scotland.
J. K. Rowling | Remarriage and family
So that's how I know." Rowling's movement from children's literature to adult literature arose from being "ready to change genre". Referring to the "Harry Potter" series Rowling commented, "The thing about fantasy—there are certain things you just don't do in fantasy. You don't have sex near unicorns. It's an ironclad rule. It's tacky." Critics questioned whether younger "Harry Potter" fans might be drawn into wanting to read the book, Rowling responded saying, "There is no part of me that feels that I represented myself as your children's babysitter or their teacher. I was always, I think, completely honest. I'm a writer, and I will write what I want to write." Rowling rejected Little, Brown's claims that the book was a "black comedy", saying in an interview with "The New Yorker", "It's been billed, slightly, as a black comedy, but to me it's more of a comic tragedy." If the novel had precedents, "it would be sort of nineteenth-century: the anatomy and the analysis of a very small and closed society."
The Casual Vacancy | Conception
In particular, Rowling had trouble with the ninth chapter, "The Dark Mark," which she rewrote 13 times.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Development
Mary Pope Osborne has written many books outside the Magic Tree House series.
Mary Pope Osborne | Other books
The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden." The Presidential Medal of Freedom was allegedly refused to be awarded to Rowling under George W. Bush, because her writing "encouraged witchcraft". This was claimed by Matt Latimer, a former speechwriter for Bush, who went on to write a memoir about his time in the administration, although then First Lady Laura Bush had declared a fondness for the books.
Politics of J. K. Rowling | US politics