The girl who grew up to write Harry Potter

Joanne Rowling was born on 31st July 1965. Dianne, her younger sister, was born almost two years later. They lived in Winterbourne, until Joanne was nine. Then they moved to Tutshill. Joanne grew up with a lot of books around because her parents loved reading – she says, ‘I lived for books ... I was a bookworm.’ From an early age Joanne wanted to be a writer. She wrote her first book at the age of six – a story about a rabbit called Rabbit. Then when she was eleven, she wrote a novel about seven cursed diamonds and the people who owned them. She used to read her short imaginative stories to her sister Dianne. Joanne graduated from Exeter University. J.K. Rowling first had the idea for Harry Potter while she was waiting on a four-hour delayed train travelling from Manchester to London in 1990. Over the next five years, she began to plan out the seven books of the series. She arrived in Edinburgh in 1993 with three chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in her suitcase. She had a baby daughter, Jessica, but she continued to write whenever she had time. Joanne sent the first three chapters to a number of literary agents. One of them wrote back and said they wanted to see the rest of the story. She says it is the best letter she has ever received in her life. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone quickly became a bestseller in 1997. The book was translated into other languages and started to become famous around the world. The Harry Potter books have broken many records. In 2007, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows became the fastest- selling book ever, selling 2.65 million in the first 24 hours in the UK. The Harry Potter series is now published in 78 languages. Her best-selling novels have sold more than 400 million copies and won numerous awards.