About Her Life

Her Childhood

Joanne Kathleen Rowling was born in Chipping Sodbury General Hospital. She was born on July 31, 1966. Chipping Sodbury is located near Bristol, England. Her parents names were Peter and Ann Rowling. Her mother Ann worked as a lab technician. Her father Peter managed an aircraft factory. Rowling has a younger sister named Di.

Joanne's parents read to her a lot when she was young. When she grew older she liked to read in her free time. When she was little she loved rabbits and wrote many stories about them. She wrote her first book when she was 6. It was called "Rabbit". She now has a real rabbit. She had many favorite books, The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, Manxmouse by Paul Gallico, and the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis.

She moved three times while growing up. Her first move was to Yate, then to Winterbourne. While living in Winterbourne she made two good friends named Ian and Vikki Potter. She then moved to Tutshill near Chipstow in the Forest of Dean, when she was nine. Her teacher put her in the "stupid" row for failing a fraction test when she first went to school in Tutshill. By the end of the year Joanne was allowed to sit in the "smart" row. She then attended Wyedean Comprehensive school after Tutshill. Her favorite subjects in school were English and languages. While in school she got in a fight with the toughest girl there. She was pretty popular for a couple of days because she did not fall dawn. In her final year of schooling she was made head girl. This meant that at the end of the year she must give a speech. When she went to give her speech the record scratched!

Later Years

J.K. Rowling is the author of the world famous Harry Potter books. I will be telling you about her life. J.K. Rowling wanted to be a writer ever since she was a little girl.

J.K. Rowlings full name is Joanne Kathleen Rowling. She lives in Edinbugh, Scotland with her seven-year-old daughter. She married a Portugal journalist named Jorge Arante, while living in Oporto, Portugal. She moved to Oporto to become an English teacher as a foreign Language. She became pregnant and gave birth to her daughter Jessica.

Rowling attended Exeter University. She then moved to London for two years to work at Amnesty International doing research into human rights abuses in Francophone, Africa as a postgraduate. While attending Exeter she studied literature and French. As a student she lived in Paris for a year.

Her first job out of college was a secretary. She was not good at this for she was very unorganized, and disliked her job. She quite her job when she was 26. She then moved to Oporto, Portugal. She divorced in 1995. She was unable to pay for childcare, so she had to go on public assistance.

By: Natalie Ann Dobie