J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling (born 1965 in Yate, England) is the British author of the Harry Potter series — seven novels (1997–2007) that have sold over 600 million copies in 85 languages, making them the bestselling book series in history. She conceived the series on a delayed train in 1990 and wrote the first novel as a single mother on public assistance in Edinburgh cafes. Twelve publishers rejected the manuscript before Bloomsbury accepted it in 1995. The series spawned a film franchise, theme parks, a stage play (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), and the Wizarding World expanded universe. Beyond fiction, Rowling delivered a celebrated Harvard commencement address (2008) on the gifts of failure and the power of imagination. She has become a prominent and controversial public figure through her public positions on gender identity. J.K. Rowling lived b. 1965.