J.K. Rowling signs books for fans at the Elgin and Winter Garden theatre in Toronto, Tuesday, Oct.23, 2007. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Globe and Mail-Charla Jones

Joanne Kathleen Rowling is the wonderful author behind the Harry Potter series. Born on July 31st, 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England and raised in Winterbourne, South Gloucestershire, Ms. Rowling wrote her very first book about a rabbit named Rabbit at the age of five or six. The idea for Harry Potter was first conceived on a train ride from Manchester to London in 1990 and the first manuscript was completed by Ms. Rowling in 1995. At this time Christopher Little Literary Agents took the manuscript on in order to find a publisher. While Harry Potter was initially rejected by many companies (including American publishing giant Scholastic), Bloomsbury Publishing agreed to take the book on after the daughter of one of its senior executives gave the story a rave review.

The rest, as far as Harry Potter is concerned, is of course history.

Ms. Rowling is currently married to Dr. Neil Murray and has two daughters and a son. She has devoted much time to charity work for causes such as multiple sclerosis, which took the life of her mother at an early age. She has also founded and serves as the chair for Lumos (formerly the Children’s High Level Group) which aims to cast light on the struggle of institutionalized and disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe, as well as take action to help them.

For more information, please see Ms. Rowling’s official biography.

You can write to Ms. Rowling at the following address:

J.K. Rowling
c/o Bloomsbury Publishing
38 Soho Square
London
W1V 5DF
UK