J. K. Rowling
(July 31, 1965 –)
Joanne Kathleen Rowling is a British novelist famous as the author of the "Harry Potter" series of young-adult fantasy novels, beginning in 1997. She has said that she wrote her first novel, Rabbit, when she was five or six. She has used the penname Robert Galbraith.
The seven "Harry Potter" books have won multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies. They have become the best-selling book series in history, and have been the basis for movies which have become the highest-grossing movie series in history.
Statements by Rowling on Twitter and then elsewhere widely interpreted as anti-trans (though she insists they are not) have made the author a controversial figure since 2020.
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- 2001 — 2001 Best Novel Hugo for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- 2003 — Bram Stoker Award
- 2006 — Neffy Award
- 2008 — Neffy Award
- Many mundane awards, literary prizes and honors
Harry Potter[edit]
A series of seven YA fantasy novels, named after the title character, that tell the adventures of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends who are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The main plot concerns Harry's quest to overcome the Dark wizard Lord Voldemort (He Who Must Not Be Named), who wants to become immortal, subjugate non-magical people, and destroy all those who stand in his way.
The seven books are:
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)
Since the release of the first novel on June 30, 1997, the books have been immensely popular and a commercial success worldwide. As of 2011, the book series has sold about 450 million copies, making it the bestselling book series in history, and it has been translated into 67 languages. An extensive fringe fandom grew up around it.
There have been several adaptations of the novels in other media, including motion pictures. In 2016, a play, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” by Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne premiered in the UK.
Wizarding Words[edit]
The collective books, media, fictional universe, fandom and brand/franchise are all known as the Wizarding World and, less officially, the Potterverse or Potterdom. The series introduced the word muggle, the game of Quidditch, and many other terms that have been absorbed into Anglophone cultural literacy, if not specifically fanspeak.
- A muggle is anyone who is not magical. Muggles may have children with magical abilities. There is some prejudice among some of the Wizarding World against both muggles and wizards and witches whose parents are muggles. In Potterdom, the term is used for outsiders.
Fans may or may not be muggles — most of us certainly are. The word hasn’t been much adopted by sf fandom. Our term for a nonfan is mundane.
- Quidditch is a sport played by witches and wizards from broomsticks in the air in the Harry Potter series of books and movies. A related, ground-based sport now exists, with leagues including the Victorian Quidditch Association and others in the U.S. and U.K. We have no idea if any players are connected to fandom.
See Moopsball for a fannish contact sport.
| Person | 1965— |
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