A chance submission to London literary agent Christopher Little set the ball in motion toward its eventual publication on June 26, 1997.Īlthough by now of course a global phenomenon, those early days were fuelled by sheer word-of-mouth enthusiasm, with readers and booksellers alike utterly enraptured by this new, enchanting world. Although the basic threads of the Harry Potter universe surfaced in 1990, it took Rowling another six years to complete the first novel, famously writing the book in cafés around Edinburgh. Rowling studied French and Classics at The University of Exeter and later moved to Portugal, returning to the UK in 1993. Rowling on being accepted by Christopher Little Literary Agentsįamously rejected by no less than eight publishers before ultimately being picked up by Bloomsbury, the genesis of what was to become Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is almost as well-documented as the books themselves.īorn in Gloucestershire in 1965, J.K. ‘The best letter of my life, I read it eight times.’ – J.K.

2020 saw the appearance of her ‘political fairy tale’ The Ickabog, first published in instalments online during the national coronavirus lockdown. In addition to books related to the Harry Potter universe such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, Rowling penned the adult novel, The Casual Vacancy in 2012 as well as the Cormoran Strike crime novels, under the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith. The magical adventures of a young wizard and his epic battle against the evil Lord Voldemort have had an incalculable impact on all children’s literature since. Written in Edinburgh whilst Rowling was on benefits, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published in 1997 and became a global mega-seller, spawning six sequels from 1998 to 2007 as well as a highly successful film franchise and vast amounts of assorted merchandise. Rowling is a British author, best known for the bestselling children’s fantasy phenomenon that is the Harry Potter series.

Jk rowling 1997