View source for J. K. Rowling

{{Short description|British author (born 1965)}}
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{{Use British English|date= February 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox writer
| name             = J. K. Rowling
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CH|OBE|FRSL|FRCPE|size=100%}}
| image            = J. K. Rowling 2010.jpg
| caption          = Rowling at the [[White House]] in 2010
| birth_name       = Joanne Rowling
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1965|7|31}}
| birth_place      = [[Yate]], Gloucestershire, England
| pseudonym        = {{unbulleted list|J. K. Rowling|Robert Galbraith}}
| occupation       = {{hlist|Author|philanthropist}}
| education        = {{ubl|[[University of Exeter]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])|[[Moray House]]{{efn|name=Moray}}}}
| period           = [[Contemporary literature|Contemporary]]
| years_active     = 1997–present
| genres           = {{hlist|Fantasy|drama|young adult fiction|crime fiction}}
| spouse           = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Jorge Arantes|1992|1995|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Neil Murray|26 December 2001}}}}
| children         = 3
| awards           = [[List of awards and nominations received by J. K. Rowling|Full list]]
| website          = {{URL|jkrowling.com}}
| signature        = J. K. Rowling signature.svg
}}

'''Joanne Rowling''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=J. K. Rowling (2).ogg|ˈ|r|əʊ|l|ɪ|ŋ}} {{respell|ROH|ling}};{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=241}} born 31 July 1965), better known by her [[pen name]] {{nowrap|'''J. K. Rowling'''}}, is the British novelist who wrote ''[[Harry Potter]]'', a seven-volume series about a young wizard. Published from 1997 to 2007, the fantasy novels are the [[List of best-selling books#List of best-selling book series|best-selling book series in history]], with over 600 million copies sold. They have been [[Harry Potter in translation|translated into 84&nbsp;languages]] and have spawned a [[Wizarding World|global media franchise]] including [[Harry Potter (films)|films]] and [[Harry Potter video games|video games]]. She writes ''[[Cormoran Strike]]'', an ongoing [[crime fiction]] series, under the alias '''Robert Galbraith'''.

Born in [[Yate]], Gloucestershire, Rowling was working as a researcher and bilingual secretary for [[Amnesty International]] in 1990 when she conceived the idea for the ''Harry Potter'' series. The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, the birth of her first child, divorce from her first husband, and relative poverty until the first novel in the series, ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'', was published in 1997. Six sequels followed, concluding with ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' (2007). By 2008, ''[[Forbes]]'' had named her the world's highest-paid author.

The novels follow a boy called<!-- per British English--> [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]] as he attends [[Hogwarts]] (a school for wizards), and battles [[Lord Voldemort]]. Death and the divide between [[good and evil]] are the central themes of the series. [[Harry Potter influences and analogues|Its influences]] include [[Bildungsroman]] (the coming-of-age genre), school stories, fairy tales, and Christian allegory. The series revived fantasy as a genre in the children's market, spawned a host of imitators, and inspired an [[Harry Potter fandom|active fandom]]. Critical reception has been more mixed. Many reviewers see Rowling's writing as conventional; some regard her portrayal of gender and social division as regressive. There were also [[Religious debates over the Harry Potter series|religious debates over the ''Harry Potter'' series]].

[[List of awards and nominations received by J. K. Rowling|Rowling has won many accolades]] for her work. She was named to the [[Order of the British Empire]] and was appointed a [[member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] for services to literature and philanthropy. ''Harry Potter'' brought her wealth and recognition, which she has used to advance philanthropic endeavours and political causes. She established the Volant Charitable Trust in 2000, and co-founded the charity [[Lumos (charity)|Lumos]] in 2005. Rowling's philanthropy centres on medical causes and supporting at-risk women and children. In 2025, ''Forbes'' estimated that Rowling's charitable giving exceeded US$200 million. She has also donated to the [[Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party]], and opposed [[Scottish independence]] and [[Brexit]].

From 2019, Rowling began making [[Political views of J. K. Rowling#Transgender issues|public remarks about transgender people]], opposing attempts to replace the legal definition of [[birth sex]] with [[gender identity|gender self identity]]. She has been condemned as transphobic by LGBTQ rights groups, some ''Harry Potter'' fans, and various other critics, including academics. This has affected her public image and relationship with readers and colleagues, altering the way they engage with her works.

== Name ==
Although she writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, before her remarriage her name was Joanne Rowling with no middle name,{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=76}} nicknamed Jo.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=12}} Staff at [[Bloomsbury Publishing]] suggested that she use two initials rather than her full name, anticipating that young boys – their target audience – would not want to read a book written by a woman.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=76}} She chose ''K'' as the second initial, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Rowling, and because of the ease of pronunciation of the two consecutive letters.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=175}} Following her 2001 remarriage,{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=271–273}} she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business.<ref>{{Cite news|date=7 August 2007|title=Judge rules against JK Rowling in privacy case|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/aug/07/pressandpublishing.privacy|access-date=13 January 2022|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

== Life and career ==

=== Early life and family ===
[[File:Platform 9 3-4 (King's Cross station, London, 2014).jpg|upright|thumb|left|Rowling's parents met on a train from [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross]]; her portal to the magical world is "Platform&nbsp;{{frac|9|3|4}}" at King's Cross.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=1, 39, 224}}|alt=A sign reading "Platform {{frac|9|3|4}}" with half of a luggage trolley installed beneath, at the interior of King's Cross railway station.]]

Joanne Rowling was born on 31 July 1965 in [[Yate]], Gloucestershire,<ref name="AboutJKR" />{{efn|Sources differ on the precise name of Rowling's place of birth. {{As of|2024|July}}, Rowling's personal website said she was born at "Yate General Hospital near Bristol".<ref name="AboutJKR">{{Cite web|title=About|url=https://www.jkrowling.com/about/|access-date=19 July 2024|publisher=JK Rowling}}</ref> She has sometimes said she was born in [[Chipping Sodbury]], which is near Yate.{{Sfn|Kirk|2003|pp=11–12}} [[Tison Pugh]] says she was born in Chipping Sodbury General Hospital.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}} ''The Scotsman'' lists Cottage Hospital in Chipping Sodbury.<ref name="JKRStory">{{cite news |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/jk-rowling-story-2478095 |url-status=live |title=The JK Rowling story |work=[[The Scotsman]] |date=16 June 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623012944/https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/jk-rowling-story-2478095 |archive-date=23 June 2020 |access-date=7 January 2022}}</ref> Biographer Smith describes Chipping Sodbury as "Yate's elegant neighbor", and reproduces a birth certificate that says District Sodbury, but lists the hospital as Cottage Hospital, 240 Station Road, Yate.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=4–6}} According to Smith: "...&nbsp;the [BBC Television] documentary still erroneously claimed that Joanne was born in Chipping Sodbury. Yet despite the mistake, the good folk of Yate are pressing for some kind of plaque or feature in their town to record it as her place of birth."{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=271}} }} to a middle-class family.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}} Her parents Anne ([[née]] Volant) and Peter ("Pete") James  Rowling had met the previous year on a train, sharing a trip from [[London King's Cross railway station|King's Cross station]], London, to their naval postings at [[Arbroath]], Scotland. Rowling's mother was with the [[Women's Royal Naval Service|Wrens]] and her father with the [[Royal Navy]].{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=10}} Her mother was of Scottish and French ancestry.<ref>{{cite AV media |date=May 3, 2024 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF2pzFnqOHU |title=On Writing - Part Three |first=J.K. |last=Rowling |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date=August 29, 2025 |quote=J.K. Rowling: 'I love London. I absolutely love London. Both my parents, although my mum had Scottish blood and French blood, they were both Londoners initially, so it's a city I've known since childhood.'}}</ref> Pete Rowling was the son of a [[machine tool|machine-tool]] setter<!-- called Ernie --> who later opened a grocery shop.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=2}} Pete and Anne married on 14 March 1965{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}}<ref name="OldBio" /> and settled in Yate,{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=4}} where Pete started work as an assembly-line production worker{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=2}} and eventually worked his way into management as a [[Chartered Engineer (UK)|chartered engineer]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=8, 23, 72}} Anne Rowling later worked as a science technician.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=53–54}} Neither of Rowling's parents attended university.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=79}} Rowling is two years older than her sister, Dianne.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=JK Rowling|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/discover/harry-potter/jk-rowling/# |access-date=13 August 2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]}}</ref>

When she was four, Rowling's family moved to [[Winterbourne, Gloucestershire]].<ref name="OldBio" />{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=7–8}} She began at St Michael's Church of England Primary School in Winterbourne when she was five.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}}{{efn|St Michael's Primary School headmaster, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the ''Harry Potter'' headmaster [[Albus Dumbledore]];{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=28}} biographer Smith writes that Rowling's father, and other figures in her education, provide more likely examples.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=19, 27–32, 51–52}} }} The Rowlings lived near a family called Potter – a name Rowling always liked.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=22, 29, 109}}{{efn|Rowling denies that her young playmate Ian Potter represents Harry.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=22, 29, 109}} }} Rowling's mother liked to read and the family's homes were filled with books.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=9–10; 39}} Her father read ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]'' to his daughters,{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=10}} while her mother introduced them to the animals in [[Richard Scarry]]'s books.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=6}} Rowling's first attempt at writing, a story called "Rabbit" composed when she was six, was inspired by Scarry's creatures.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=6}}

When Rowling was about nine, the family purchased the historic [[Church Cottage, Tutshill|Church Cottage]] in [[Tutshill]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=22, 25–27, 39}}{{efn|Smith describes Tutshill as "staunchly middle class",{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=25}} and Parker describes Church Cottage as a "handsome [[Gothic Revival]] cottage".<ref name="Parker-2012" /> In 2020, it was reported that a company listing Rowling's husband, Neil Murray, as director had purchased Church Cottage and renovations were underway.<ref>{{cite news |title=Harry Potter: JK Rowling secretly buys childhood home |date=14 April 2020|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-52286400|publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref>}} In 1974, Rowling began attending the nearby Church of England School.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=27}} Biographer Sean Smith describes her teacher as a "battleaxe"{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=28}} who "struck fear into the hearts of the children";{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=27–30}} Rowling's teacher seated her in "dunces' row" after she performed poorly on an arithmetic test.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=28–30}}{{efn|Pugh writes that "Rowling reportedly modeled the strict pedagogical style of [[Severus Snape]] after [Sylvia] Morgan's methods."{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}} Kirk states that "Jo has admitted modeling Professor Snape on a few of her most memorable and least favorite people from her past, and she has said that Mrs. Morgan&nbsp;... was definitely one of them."{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=31}} According to Smith, "Aspects of Mrs Morgan's fearsome character are embodied in the Hogwarts' Potions master, Professor Severus Snape."{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=21}} }} In 1975, Rowling joined a [[Brownies (Scouting)|Brownies]] pack. Its special events and parties, and the pack groups (Fairies, Pixies, Sprites, Elves, Gnomes and Imps) provided a magical world away from her stern teacher.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=36–38}} When she was eleven{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=3}} or twelve, she wrote a short story, "The Seven Cursed Diamonds".{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=37}} She later described herself during this period as "the epitome of a bookish child – short and squat, thick National Health glasses, living in a world of complete daydreams".{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=40–41}}

=== Secondary school and university ===
[[File:Church Cottage, Tutshill.jpg|thumb|right|[[Church Cottage, Tutshill|Church Cottage]], Tutshill, Gloucs, Rowling's childhood home]]

Rowling's secondary school was [[Wyedean School and College]], a state school she began attending at the age of eleven{{sfn|Kirk|2003|loc=p. 33. The years of British secondary school are equivalent to the United States grades of 6–12; Kirk compares them to the seven years of the books in the ''Harry Potter'' series}} and where she was bullied.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=39}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=66–67}} Rowling was inspired by her favourite teacher, Lucy Shepherd, who taught the importance of structure and precision in writing.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=56–58}}{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=36}} Smith describes her as "intelligent yet shy".{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=61}} Her teacher Dale Neuschwander was impressed by her imagination.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=55–56}} When she was a young teenager, Rowling's great-aunt gave her ''[[Hons and Rebels]]'', the autobiography of the civil rights activist [[Jessica Mitford]],{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=62}} who became Rowling's heroine.<ref name="Fraser-2002">{{Cite news|last=Fraser|first=Lindsay|date=9 November 2002|title=Harry and me|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/harry-and-me-2461742|access-date=7 January 2022|work=[[The Scotsman]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210609191643/https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/harry-and-me-2461742 |archive-date=9 June 2021}}</ref>

Anne had a strong influence on her daughter.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}} Early in Rowling's life, the support of her mother and sister instilled confidence and enthusiasm for storytelling.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=12–13}} Anne was a creative and accomplished cook,{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=16–17}}{{efn|Smith compares the place meals held in the Rowling household{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=17}} and the descriptions of food in ''The Little White Horse'' to the elaborate food prepared for Hogwarts pupils.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=45}} }} who helped lead her daughters' Brownie activities,{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=38}} and took a job in the chemistry department at Wyedean while her daughters were there.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=53–54}} [[John Nettleship]], the head of science at Wyedean, described Anne as "absolutely brilliant&nbsp;... very imaginative".<ref name="JKRStory" /> Anne was diagnosed with a "virulent strain" of [[multiple sclerosis]] when she was 34{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=40}} or 35 and Jo was 15.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=71, 74}} Rowling's home life was complicated by her mother's illness{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=xii}} and a strained relationship with her father.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=4}} Rowling later said "home was a difficult place to be",{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=72}} and that her teenage years were unhappy.<ref name="Parker-2012" /> In 2020, she wrote that her father would have preferred a son and described herself as having severe [[obsessive–compulsive disorder]] in her teens.<ref name="RowlingReasons">{{cite web|title=J.K. Rowling writes about her reasons for speaking out on sex and gender issues |url=https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/ |publisher=JK Rowling |date=10 June 2020 |access-date=10 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610182056/https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/ |archive-date=10 June 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> She began to smoke, took an interest in [[alternative rock]],{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=40}} and adopted [[Siouxsie Sioux]]'s back-combed hair and black eyeliner.<ref name="JKRStory" /> Sean Harris, her best friend in the [[Sixth form|Upper Sixth]], owned a turquoise [[Ford Anglia#Anglia 105E (1959–1968)|Ford Anglia]] that provided an escape from her difficult home life and the means for Harris and Rowling to broaden their activities.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=76–78}}{{efn|Rowling later described Harris as her "getaway driver and foul weather friend"; his Anglia inspired a flying version that appeared in ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]'' as a symbol of escape and rescue.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=9}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=77–78}} }}

Living in a small town with pressures at home, Rowling became more interested in her schoolwork.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=40}} Steve Eddy, her first secondary school English teacher, remembers her as "not exceptional" but "quite good at English".<ref name="Parker-2012" /> Rowling took [[A-level]]s in English, French, and German, achieving two As and a B, and was named [[head girl]] at Wyedean.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=79–81}} She applied to [[Oxford University]] in 1982 but was rejected.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}} Biographers attribute her rejection to lack of privilege, as she had attended a state school rather than a private one.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=80–81}}{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=42}}

Rowling always wanted to be a writer,{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=90}} but chose to study French and the classics at the [[University of Exeter]] for practical reasons, influenced by her parents who thought job prospects would be better with evidence of [[bilingualism]].{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=44}} She later stated that Exeter was not initially what she expected ("to be among lots of similar people – thinking radical thoughts") but that she enjoyed herself after she met more people like her.<ref name="Fraser-2002" /> She was an average student at Exeter, described by biographers as prioritising her social life over her studies, and lacking ambition and enthusiasm.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|pp=44–45}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=89–90}} Rowling recalls doing little work at university, preferring to read [[Dickens]] and [[Tolkien]].<ref name="Parker-2012" /> She earned a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in French from Exeter,{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=95–97}} graduating in 1987 after a year of study in Paris.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=97}}

=== Inspiration and mother's death ===
After university, Rowling moved to a flat in [[Clapham Junction (area)|Clapham Junction]] with friends,<ref>Smith 2002, pp. 104–5 says [[Clapham]]; Kirk 2003, p. 49 says Clapham but p. 67 says [[Clapham Junction (area)|Clapham Junction]]. Rowling tweeted in 2020 that she first put pen to paper in Clapham Junction. {{cite news |first=Bethany |last=Minelle |date=22 May 2020|title=JK Rowling reveals Harry Potter's true birthplace: Clapham Junction |url=https://news.sky.com/story/jk-rowling-reveals-harry-potters-true-birthplace-clapham-junction-11992918 |publisher=[[Sky News]] |access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> and took a course to become a bilingual secretary.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=2}} While she was working in [[temporary jobs]] in London, [[Amnesty International]] hired her to document human rights issues in French-speaking Africa.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=2–3}} She began writing adult novels while working as a temp, although they were never published.<ref name="JKRStory" />{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=51}} In 1990, she planned to move with her boyfriend to [[Manchester]],<ref name="OldBio">{{cite web|title=Biography|url=https://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/biography.cfm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226220404/https://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/biography.cfm|archive-date=26 December 2007|access-date=7 January 2022|publisher=JK Rowling}}</ref> and frequently took long train trips to visit.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=3}} In mid-1990, she was on a train delayed by four hours from Manchester to London,{{sfn|Kirk|2003|pp=66–67}} when the characters [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]], [[Ron Weasley]], and [[Hermione Granger]] came plainly into her mind.<ref>{{cite news|last=Loer|first=Stephanie|date=18 October 1999|title=All about Harry Potter from Quidditch to the future of the Sorting Hat|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|id={{ProQuest|405306485}}|page=C7}}</ref> Having no pen or paper allowed her to fully explore the characters and their story in her imagination before she reached her flat and began to write.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|pp=66–67}}

Rowling moved to Manchester around November 1990.<ref name="Fraser-2002" /><!-- says about a month before her mother died, which was December--> She described her time in Manchester, where she worked for the Chamber of Commerce{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=3}} and at [[Manchester University]] in temp jobs,{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=108}} as a "year of misery".{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=106}} Her mother died of multiple sclerosis on 30 December 1990.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=109–110}} At the time, Rowling was writing ''Harry Potter'',<ref>{{cite news|last=Greig|first=Geordie|date=10 January 2006|title='There would be so much to tell her&nbsp;...'|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|id={{ProQuest|321301864}}|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1507438/There-would-be-so-much-to-tell-her....html|page=25}}</ref> and her mother's death heavily affected her writing.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=109–112}}

The pain of the loss of her mother was compounded when some personal effects her mother had left her were stolen.<ref name="Fraser-2002" /> With the end of the relationship with her boyfriend, and "being made redundant from an office job in Manchester",<ref name="Parker-2012" /> Rowling moved to [[Porto]], Portugal, in November 1991 to teach night classes in English as a foreign language,{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=114–116}} writing during the day.<ref name="Parker-2012" />

=== Marriage, divorce and single parenthood ===
[[File:VistadoPorto.jpg|thumbnail|Rowling moved to [[Porto]], Portugal, to teach English.|alt=A panned out image of city buildings]]
Five months after arriving in Porto,<!-- the 18 months reported in ''The Scotsman cannot be correct. Her mother died in December 1990, she arrived in Porto in November, which has to be 91, she has a miscarriage in summer 1992, so meeting him in March as Smith reports would be correct--> Rowling met the Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes in a bar and found that they shared an interest in [[Jane Austen]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=121–122}} The relationship was troubled, but they married on 16 October 1992.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=127–131}}{{efn|Pugh writes, "In a droll allusion to this ill-fated union, Professor Trelawney warns Lavender Brown, 'Incidentally, that thing you are dreading – it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October'."{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=3}} }} Their daughter Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes (named after Jessica Mitford{{efn|Rowling says that Jessica was named after Mitford and a boy would have been named Harry; according to Smith (2002), Arantes says that Jessica was named after [[Jezebel]] from the Bible.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=132}} }}) was born on 27 July 1993 in Portugal.<ref name="JKRStory" />{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=3}} By this time, Rowling had finished the first three chapters of ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' – almost as they were eventually published – and had drafted the rest of the novel.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=70}}

Rowling experienced domestic abuse during her marriage.<ref name="RowlingReasons" />{{sfn|Kirk|2003|loc=p. 57: "Soon, by many eyewitness accounts and even some versions of Jorge's own story, domestic violence became a painful reality in Jo's life."}} Arantes said in June 2020 that he had slapped her and did not regret it.<ref>{{cite web|title=JK Rowling: Sun newspaper criticised by abuse charities for article on ex-husband|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53023543|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=12 June 2020|access-date=12 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612132451/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53023543|archive-date=12 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Rowling described the marriage as "short and catastrophic".{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=3}} She says she was not allowed to have a house key and that her husband used the growing manuscript of her first book as a hostage.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rawlinson |first=Kevin |title=JK Rowling reveals abuse in past relationship |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=22 February 2023 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/22/jk-rowling-reveals-abuse-in-past-relationship |access-date=22 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222131451/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/22/jk-rowling-reveals-abuse-in-past-relationship |archive-date=22 February 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Rowling and Arantes separated on 17 November 1993 after Arantes threw her out of the house; she returned with the police to retrieve Jessica and her belongings and went into hiding for two weeks before she left Portugal.<ref name="JKRStory" />{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=133–134}} In late 1993, with a draft of ''Harry Potter'' in her suitcase,<ref name="Parker-2012" /> Rowling moved with her daughter to [[Edinburgh]], Scotland,<ref name="AboutJKR" /> planning to stay with her sister until Christmas.<ref name="Fraser-2002" /> Her biographer Sean Smith raises the question of why Rowling didn't stay with her father.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=136–137}} Rowling has spoken of an estrangement from her father;<ref name="Parker-2012" />{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=4}} he had married his secretary within two years of her mother's death,{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=136}} and ''[[The Scotsman]]'' reported that this caused a rift between his daughters and their father.<ref name="JKRStory" />

Rowling sought government assistance and got £69 (US$103) per week from [[Department of Social Security (United Kingdom)|Social Security]]; not wanting to burden her recently married sister, she moved to a flat that she described as mouse-ridden.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=138–139}} She later described her economic status as being as "poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless".<ref name="Parker-2012" /> Seven years after graduating from university, she saw herself as a failure.<ref name="Rowling-2008">{{cite web |first=JK |last=Rowling |title=JK Rowling: The fringe benefits of failure |publisher=[[TED (conference)|TED]] |quote=Failure & imagination |date=June 2008 |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_failure |access-date=5 March 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430171632/http://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_failure.html |archive-date=30 April 2011}}</ref> [[Tison Pugh]] writes that the "grinding effects of poverty, coupled with her concern for providing for her daughter as a single parent, caused great hardship".{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=3}} Her marriage had failed, and she was jobless with a dependent child, but she later described this as "liberating" her to focus on writing.<ref name="Rowling-2008" /> She has said that "Jessica kept me going".{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=136}} Her old school friend, Sean Harris, lent her £600 ($900), which allowed her to move to a flat in [[Leith]],{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=140}} where she finished ''Philosopher's Stone''.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=140}}

Arantes arrived in Scotland in March 1994 seeking both Rowling and Jessica.<ref name="JKRStory" />{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=141}} On 15 March 1994, Rowling sought an [[Interdicts in Scots law|action of interdict]] (order of restraint); the interdict was granted and Arantes returned to Portugal.<ref name="JKRStory" />{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=142}} Early in the year, Rowling began to experience a deep depression{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=60}} and sought medical help when she contemplated suicide.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=3}}{{efn|The depression inspired the [[Dementors]] – soul-sucking creatures introduced in ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chaundy|first=Bob|date=18 February 2003|title=Harry Potter's magician|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/823330.stm|access-date=13 January 2022|publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> }} With nine months of therapy, her mental health gradually improved.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=60}} She filed for divorce on 10 August 1994;{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=144}} the divorce was finalised on 26 June 1995.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=150}}

Rowling wanted to finish the book before enrolling on a teacher training course, fearing she might not be able to finish once she started the course.<ref name="Fraser-2002" /> She often wrote in cafés,{{sfn|Kirk|2003|pp=55, 60}} including Nicolson's, part-owned by her brother-in-law.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=144–146}} Secretarial work brought in £15 ($22.50) per week, but she would lose government benefits if she earned more.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=147–148}} In mid-1995, a friend gave her money that allowed her to come off benefits and enrol<!-- DO NOT CHANGE, this is British English spelling--> full-time in college.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=149}} Still needing money and expecting to make a living by teaching,{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=173}} Rowling began a teacher training course in August 1995 at [[Moray House School of Education]]{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=148–149}}{{efn|name=Moray|Moray House was then part of [[Heriot-Watt University]] and later became part of the [[University of Edinburgh]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=148–149}}}} after completing her first novel.{{sfn|Anelli|2008|p=44}} She earned her teaching certificate in July 1996{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=76}} and began teaching at [[Leith Academy]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=174}}

=== Publishing ''Harry Potter'' ===
{{Main|Harry Potter{{!}}''Harry Potter''}}
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Please note: The four booklets Rowling composed for charity are listed in the "Charity" section.
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[[File:Potter queue.jpg|thumb|A California bookshop in 2007, five minutes before ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'' was released]]

Rowling completed ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' in June 1995.{{sfn|Anelli|2008|pp=41, 47}} The initial draft included an illustration of Harry by a fireplace, showing a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=152}} Following an enthusiastic report from an early reader,{{sfn|Anelli|2008|p=43}} [[Christopher Little Literary Agency]] agreed to represent Rowling. Her manuscript was submitted to twelve publishers, all of which rejected it.<ref name="JKRStory" /> [[Barry Cunningham (publisher)|Barry Cunningham]], who ran the children's literature department at [[Bloomsbury Publishing]], bought it{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=75}} after [[Nigel Newton]], who headed Bloomsbury at the time, saw his eight-year-old daughter finish one chapter and want to keep reading.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=3}}<ref>{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929175706/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/story.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10333960 |archive-date=29 September 2007|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/story.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10333960 |title=Revealed: The eight-year-old girl who saved Harry Potter |last1=Lawless|first1=John |date=3 July 2005 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=6 October 2011}}</ref> Rowling recalls Cunningham telling her, "You'll never make any money out of children's books, Jo."{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=162}} Rowling was awarded a writer's grant by the [[Scottish Arts Council]]{{efn|The Scottish Arts Council grant was after Rowling had a contract for publication of ''Philosopher's Stone'' but before it was published.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=176}} }} to support her childcare costs and finances before ''Philosopher's Stone''{{'s}} publication, and to aid in writing the sequel, [[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets|''Chamber of Secrets'']].{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=176}}{{sfn|Kirk|2003|pp=62, 76, 119}} On 26 June 1997, Bloomsbury published ''Philosopher's Stone'' with an initial [[print run]] of 5,650&nbsp;copies.{{sfn|Errington|2017|pp=1–2, 7–8}}{{efn|According to Errington, 500 hardbacks and 5,150 paperbacks "were published on the same date and neither has bibliographical priority". It was previously believed that the initial print run was 500 copies total, but this number is "woefully inaccurate".{{sfn|Errington|2017|pp=7–8}} }} Before ''Chamber of Secrets'' was published, Rowling had received £2,800 ($4,200) in royalties.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=187–188}}

''Philosopher's Stone'' introduces [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]]. Harry is a wizard who lives with his non-magical relatives until his eleventh birthday, when he is invited to attend [[Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]].{{sfn|Hahn|2015|pp=[[iarchive:oxfordcompaniont0000hahn/page/264/mode/1up|264–266]]}}{{sfn|Mamary|2020|pp=1–3}} Rowling wrote six sequels, which follow Harry's adventures at Hogwarts with friends [[Hermione Granger]] and [[Ron Weasley]] and his attempts to defeat [[Lord Voldemort]], who killed Harry's parents when he was a child.{{sfn|Hahn|2015|pp=[[iarchive:oxfordcompaniont0000hahn/page/264/mode/1up|264–266]]}}

[[File:JK Rowling 1999.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Rowling at the [[National Press Club (United States)|National Press Club]] in Washington, D.C. in 1999]]
Rowling received the news that the US rights were being auctioned at the [[Bologna Children's Book Fair]].{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=77}} To her surprise and delight, [[Scholastic Corporation]] bought the rights for $105,000.{{sfn|Eccleshare|2002|p=13}} She bought a flat in Edinburgh with the money from the sale.{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=79}} Arthur A. Levine, head of the [[Imprint (trade name)|imprint]] at Scholastic, pushed for a name change. He wanted ''Harry Potter and the School of Magic''; as a compromise Rowling suggested ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone''.{{sfn|Anelli|2008|pp=50, 58–59}} ''Sorcerer's Stone'' was released in the United States in September 1998.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jk-rowling/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone/|title=Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone|magazine=[[Kirkus Reviews]]|date=1 September 1998|access-date=14 December 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214105044/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jk-rowling/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone/|archive-date=14 December 2013}}</ref> It was not widely reviewed, but the reviews it received were generally positive.{{sfn|Anelli|2008|pp=60–61}} ''Sorcerer's Stone'' became a [[The New York Times|''New York Times'']] bestseller by December.{{Sfn|Anelli|2008|p=63}}

The next three books in the series were released in quick succession between 1998 and 2000, each selling millions of copies.{{sfn|Whited|2002|p=2}} When ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]'' had not appeared by 2002, rumours circulated that Rowling was suffering writer's block.{{sfn|Whited|2002|p=5}} Rowling denied these rumours, stating the 896-page book took three years to write because of its length.<ref>{{Cite interview|last=Rowling |first=J.K. |date=19 June 2003 |title=Inside 'Order of the Phoenix' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3080035 |access-date=19 July 2024|publisher=[[NBC News]] |interviewer=[[Katie Couric]]}}</ref> It was published in June 2003, selling millions of copies on the first day.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kirkpatrick|first=David D.|date=23 June 2003|title=New 'Harry Potter' book sells 5 million on first day|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/23/us/new-harry-potter-book-sells-5-million-on-first-day.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527235906/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/23/us/new-harry-potter-book-sells-5-million-on-first-day.html |archive-date=27 May 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=31 January 2022}}</ref> ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]'' was released two years later in July 2005, again selling millions of copies on the first day.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wyatt|first=Edward |date=18 July 2005|title=Harry Potter book sets record in first day|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/books/harry-potter-book-sets-record-in-first-day.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529184415/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/books/harry-potter-book-sets-record-in-first-day.html |archive-date=29 May 2015 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=31 January 2022}}</ref> The series ended with ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]'', published in July 2007.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rich|first=Motoko |date=23 July 2007|title=Harry Potter's popularity holds up in early sales |work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/books/23potter.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305150854/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/books/23potter.html |archive-date=5 March 2008 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=31 January 2022}}</ref>

=== Films ===
{{Main|Harry Potter (film series){{!}}''Harry Potter'' (film series)}}
[[File:RH116 "Harry Potter Film 2011" - Flickr - D464-Darren Hall.jpg|thumb|Bus promoting ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2|Deathly Hallows – Part 2]]'', 2011]]
In 1999, [[Warner Bros.]] purchased film rights to the first two ''Harry Potter'' novels for a reported $1&nbsp;million.{{sfn|Gunelius|2008|pp=8, 37}}{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=210}} Rowling accepted the offer with the provision that the studio only produce ''Harry Potter'' films based on books she authored,{{Sfn|Anelli|2008|pp=66–68}} while retaining the right to final script approval,{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=94}} and some control over merchandising.{{Sfn|Smith|2002|p=210}} ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'', an adaptation of the first ''Harry Potter'' book, was released in November 2001.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Bradshaw|date=28 October 2021|title=Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone review – 20 years on, it's a nostalgic spectacular|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/oct/28/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone-review|access-date=13 January 2022|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> [[Steve Kloves]] wrote the screenplays for all but the fifth film,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lyall|first=Sarah|date=12 November 2010|title=A screenwriter's Hogwarts decade|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/movies/14potter.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820122255/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/movies/14potter.html |archive-date=20 August 2011 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> with Rowling's assistance, ensuring that his scripts kept to the plots of the novels.<ref>{{cite news|last=Sragow|first=Michael|title=The wizard behind 'Harry'|date=15 November 2001|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|page=1E|id={{ProQuest|406491574}}}}</ref>
The film series concluded with ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'', which was adapted in two parts; [[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1|part one]] was released on 19 November 2010,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Barnes|first=Brooks|date=21 November 2010|title='Harry Potter' has $330 million debut weekend|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/business/media/22potter.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122044053/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/business/media/22potter.html |archive-date=22 November 2010 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2 February 2022}}</ref> and [[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2|part two]] followed on 15 July 2011.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Barnes|first=Brooks|date=17 July 2011|title=Millions of Muggles propel Potter film at box office|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/movies/harry-potters-opening-weekend-breaks-box-office-records.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717213852/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/movies/harry-potters-opening-weekend-breaks-box-office-records.html |archive-date=17 July 2011 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2 February 2022}}</ref>

Warner Bros. announced an expanded relationship with Rowling in 2013, including a planned series of films about her character Newt Scamander, fictitious author of ''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (book)|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cieply |first=Michael |date=12 September 2013 |title=Warner and J.K. Rowling Reach Wide-Ranging Deal |work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/business/media/warner-jk-rowling-partnership-will-include-new-wizardry-film.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130912172123/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/business/media/warner-jk-rowling-partnership-will-include-new-wizardry-film.html |archive-date=12 September 2013 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=31 January 2022}}</ref> The [[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)|first film]] of five, a prequel to the ''Harry Potter'' series, set roughly 70&nbsp;years earlier, was released in November 2016.<ref>{{cite news|title=JK Rowling plans five Fantastic Beasts films|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37651586|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=14 October 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124091832/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37651586|archive-date=24 November 2016}}</ref> Rowling wrote the screenplay, which was released as a book.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Cain|first=Sian|date=25 November 2016|title=The screenplay of Fantastic Beasts is a rare miss for the wizarding world|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/25/jk-rowling-fantastic-beasts-screenplay|access-date=22 January 2022|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> ''[[Crimes of Grindelwald]]'' was released in November 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dargis|first=Manohla|date=8 November 2018|title='Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' review: apocalypse too soon|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/movies/fantastic-beasts.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109014239/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/movies/fantastic-beasts.html |archive-date=9 November 2018 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2 February 2022}}</ref> ''[[Secrets of Dumbledore]]'' was released in April 2022.<ref name="Crouch-2021">{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/fantastic-beasts-3-secrets-dumbledore-release-date-1235018522/|title='Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore' sets new 2022 release date |last=Crouch |first=Aaron |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=22 September 2021 |access-date=23 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922155056/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/fantastic-beasts-3-secrets-dumbledore-release-date-1235018522/ |archive-date=22 September 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> 
In November 2022, ''Variety'' reported that Warner Bros. Discovery was not actively planning to continue the film series or to develop any further films related to the Wizarding World franchise.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://comicbook.com/movies/news/fantastic-beasts-sequels-harry-potter-movies-dead-warner-bros-discovery/|title=Fantastic Beasts 4 and 5, Harry Potter Spinoffs Reportedly Stalled at Warner Bros. Discovery|first=Charlie|date=3 November 2022|website=comicbook.com|last=Ridgely|access-date=7 November 2022|archive-date=7 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221107042139/https://comicbook.com/movies/news/fantastic-beasts-sequels-harry-potter-movies-dead-warner-bros-discovery/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Religion, wealth and remarriage ===
{{further|Religious debates over the Harry Potter series{{!}}Religious debates over the ''Harry Potter'' series|List of celebrities by net worth}}
By 1998, Rowling was portrayed in the media as a "penniless divorcee hitting the jackpot".{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=187–188}} According to her biographer Sean Smith, the publicity became effective marketing for ''Harry Potter'',{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=187–188}} but her journey from living on benefits to wealth brought, along with fame, concerns from different groups about the books' portrayals of the occult and [[#Gender and social division|gender roles]].{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=218–222}} Ultimately, Smith says that these concerns served to "enhance [her] public profile rather than damage it".{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=222}}

Rowling identifies as a Christian.<ref name="Nelson-2002">{{Cite web|last=Nelson|first=Michael|date=31 January 2002|title=Fantasia: The Gospel According to C.S. Lewis|url=https://prospect.org/api/content/3229353b-1de2-5f2d-89cf-1440fe7c9594/|access-date=12 January 2022|website=[[The American Prospect]]}}</ref> Although she grew up next door to her church,{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=25–27, 76}} accounts of the family's church attendance differ.{{efn|Smith writes that the Rowling sisters "never attended Sunday school or services",{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=76}} and Parker writes that the other Rowling family members were not regular churchgoers, but that "Rowling regularly attended services in the church next door".<ref name="Parker-2012">{{cite magazine |title=Mugglemarch: J.K. Rowling writes a realist novel for adults |last=Parker |first=Ian |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=24 September 2012 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/01/mugglemarch |access-date=13 June 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730193324/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/10/01/mugglemarch |archive-date=30 July 2014}}</ref> }} She began attending a [[Church of Scotland]] congregation, where Jessica was christened, around the time she was writing ''Harry Potter''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Weeks|first=Linton|date=20 October 1999|title=Charmed, I'm sure; the enchanting success story of Harry Potter's creator, J.K. Rowling|page=C01|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|id={{ProQuest|408532236}}}}</ref> In a 2012 interview, she said she belonged to the [[Scottish Episcopal Church]].<ref>{{Cite episode |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mx27g |title=J. K. Rowling |credits=Presenter: Mark Lawson |series=Front Row |series-link=Front Row (radio programme) |station=[[BBC Radio 4]] |time=17:45 |date=27 September 2012 |access-date=27 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001021842/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mx27g |archive-date=1 October 2012}}</ref> Rowling has stated that she believes in God,{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=105}} but has experienced doubt.<ref>{{cite news|title=The woman behind the boy wizard|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/arts/television/16rowling.html|access-date=13 June 2020|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|first=Mike|last=Hale|date=16 July 2009|url-status=live|url-access=registration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715043903/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/arts/television/16rowling.html|archive-date=15 July 2011}}</ref> She does not believe in magic or [[witchcraft]].<ref name="Nelson-2002" />{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=105}}

Rowling married Neil Murray, a doctor, in 2001.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=271–273}} The couple intended to marry that July in the [[Galapagos]], but when this leaked to the press, they delayed their wedding and changed their holiday destination to [[Mauritius]].{{sfn|Kirk|2003|p=113}} After the UK [[Press Complaints Commission]] ruled that a magazine had breached Jessica's privacy when the eight-year-old was included in a photograph of the family taken during that trip,{{sfn|Holmes|2015|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5MNzCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA203 203]}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pcc.org.uk/cases/adjudicated.html?article=MjA0NQ== |publisher=Press Complaints Commission|access-date=1 February 2022|title=Adjudicated complaints: J K Rowling}}</ref> Murray and Rowling sought a more private and quiet place to live and work.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=261–262, 266–267}} Rowling bought [[Killiechassie House]] and its estate in [[Perthshire]], Scotland,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/hogwarts-hideaway-potter-author-2467790|title=Hogwarts hideaway for Potter author|work=[[The Scotsman]]|date=22 November 2001|access-date=25 October 2007|url-access=registration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613172843/https://www.scotsman.com/news/hogwarts-hideaway-potter-author-2467790|archive-date=13 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> and on 26 December 2001, the couple had a small, private wedding there, officiated by an Episcopalian priest who travelled from Edinburgh.{{sfn|Smith|2002|pp=271–273}} Their son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born in 2003,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/2883095.stm|title=Baby joy for JK Rowling|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=24 March 2003|access-date=24 March 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201195555/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2883095.stm|archive-date=1 February 2009}}</ref> and their daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray in 2005.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=JK Rowling |title=News: JKR gives birth to baby girl |url=http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=83 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112121859/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm?id=83 |archive-date=12 January 2012 |access-date=19 January 2022 |date=25 January 2005}}</ref>

In 2004, ''Forbes'' named Rowling "the first billion-dollar author".<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Watson|first1=Julie|last2=Kellner|first2=Tomas|date=26 February 2004|title=J.K. Rowling and the billion-dollar empire|url=https://www.forbes.com/maserati/billionaires2004/cx_jw_0226rowlingbill04.html|access-date=9 January 2022|work=[[Forbes]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729194610/https://www.forbes.com/maserati/billionaires2004/cx_jw_0226rowlingbill04.html|archive-date=29 July 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Rowling denied that she was a billionaire in a 2005 interview.<ref>{{cite news |last=Couric |first=Katie |author-link=Katie Couric |date=18 July 2005 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/8599597 |title=J.K. Rowling, the author with the magic touch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191128233720/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8599597 |archive-date=28 November 2019 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref> By 2012, ''Forbes'' concluded she was no longer a billionaire due to her charitable donations and high UK taxes, but it re-added her to its list of billionaires in 2025.<ref name="Craig-2025" /> She was named the world's highest paid author by ''Forbes'' in 2008,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7649962.stm |title=Rowling 'makes £5 every second' |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=3 October 2008 |access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref> 2017<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-40825498|title=JK Rowling named world's highest-earning author by Forbes|date=4 August 2017|publisher=[[BBC News]]|access-date=5 August 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002155507/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-40825498|archive-date=2 October 2017}}</ref> and 2019.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cuccinello|first1=Hayley C.|last2=Shapiro|first2=Ariel|title=Worlds highest-paid authors 2019: J.K. Rowling back on top with $92 million|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2019/12/20/worlds-highest-paid-authors-2019-rowling-patterson-obama/|work=[[Forbes]]|date=20 December 2019|access-date=20 December 2020}}</ref> Her UK sales total in excess of £238&nbsp;million, which made her the best-selling living author in Britain,<ref>{{cite news|title=J.K. Rowling: Casual Vacancy tops fiction charts|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9584404/JK-Rowling-Casual-Vacancy-tops-fiction-charts.html|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=4 October 2012|first=Emma-Victoria|last=Farr|date=3 October 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004003423/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9584404/JK-Rowling-Casual-Vacancy-tops-fiction-charts.html|archive-date=4 October 2012}}</ref> until 2025 when she was supplanted by [[Julia Donaldson]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=McTaggart |first=India |date=17 January 2025 |title=JK Rowling knocked off top of British best-sellers list |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/17/jk-rowling-knocked-off-top-british-author-spot/ |access-date=18 January 2025 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> The 2021 [[Sunday Times Rich List|''Sunday Times'' Rich List]] estimated Rowling's fortune at £820&nbsp;million, ranking her as the 196th-richest person in the UK,<ref>{{cite news|date=21 May 2021|title=JK Rowling net worth – Sunday Times Rich List 2021|url=https://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list/profile/article/jk-rowling-net-worth-sunday-times-rich-list-695xd7kzn|url-status=live|work=[[The Sunday Times]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211113164421/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sunday-times-rich-list-jk-rowling-net-worth-rhrbq7ctc|archive-date=13 November 2021|access-date=1 January 2022|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and ''[[The National (Scotland)|The National]]'' reported her net worth in 2025 as £945&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite news |title=JK Rowling to fund gender-critical women's cases against employers |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/25190054.jk-rowling-fund-gender-critical-womens-cases-employers/ |newspaper=[[The National (Scotland)|The National]]|access-date=30 May 2025|date=25 May 2025|first=Abbi|last=Garton-Crosbie}}</ref> As of 2020, she owns a £4.5&nbsp;million [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] house in [[Kensington]] and a £2&nbsp;million home in Edinburgh,<ref>{{cite news |title=JK Rowling net worth 2020: How much the Harry Potter author earns and donates to charity |last=Hills |first=Megan C. |date=7 May 2020|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/insider/celebrity/j-k-rowling-net-worth-harry-potter-author-billionaire-a4234706.html|newspaper=[[Evening Standard]]|access-date=12 January 2022}}</ref> where she lives with Murray and her two youngest children.<ref name="AboutJKR" />

=== Adult fiction and Robert Galbraith ===
{{Main|The Casual Vacancy{{!}}''The Casual Vacancy''|The Casual Vacancy (miniseries){{!}}''The Casual Vacancy'' (miniseries)|Cormoran Strike{{!}}''Cormoran Strike''|Strike (TV series){{!}}''Strike'' (TV series)}}
In mid-2011, Rowling left Christopher Little Literary Agency and followed her agent [[Neil Blair (agent)|Neil Blair]] to the Blair Partnership. He represented her for the publication of ''[[The Casual Vacancy]]'', released in September 2012 by [[Little, Brown and Company]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=27 September 2012|title=Review: 'The Casual Vacancy'|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/54123-review-the-casual-vacancy.html|access-date=10 January 2022|website=[[Publishers Weekly]]}}</ref> It was Rowling's first since ''Harry Potter'' ended, and her first book for adults.<ref>{{Cite news|date=12 April 2012|title=JK Rowling announces The Casual Vacancy as title of first book for adults|work=[[The Guardian]]|agency=[[Press Association]]|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/apr/12/jk-rowling-the-casual-vacancy|access-date=10 January 2022}}</ref> A contemporary take on 19th-century British fiction about village life,{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=114–115}} ''Casual Vacancy'' was promoted as a [[black comedy]],{{Sfn|Pugh|2020|p=110}} while the critic Ian Parker described it as a "rural [[comedy of manners]]".<ref name="Parker-2012" /> It was adapted to a [[miniseries]] co-created by the [[BBC]] and [[HBO]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Frost|first=Vicky|date=28 January 2015|title=Could the BBC/HBO adaptation of JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy be an improvement on the book?|url=http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jan/28/could-the-bbchbo-adaptation-of-jk-rowlings-the-casual-vacancy-be-an-improvement-on-the-book|access-date=10 January 2022|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

Little, Brown and Company also published ''[[The Cuckoo's Calling]]'', the purported début novel of Robert Galbraith, in April 2013.<ref>{{cite news|title=Whodunnit? J. K. Rowling's secret life as a wizard crime writer revealed|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/books/article/whodunnit-jk-rowlings-secret-life-as-wizard-crime-writer-revealed-35k8dfw5nmz|work=[[The Sunday Times]]|page=1|date=14 July 2013|first=Richard|last=Brooks|access-date=13 June 2020|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613171343/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/whodunnit-jk-rowlings-secret-life-as-wizard-crime-writer-revealed-35k8dfw5nmz|archive-date=13 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Telling the story of detective Cormoran Strike, a disabled veteran of the [[War in Afghanistan]],{{sfn|Molin|2015|pp=15–18}} it initially sold 1,500&nbsp;copies in hardback.<ref name="Lyall-2013" /> After an investigation prompted by discussion on [[Twitter]], the journalist Richard Brooks contacted Rowling's agent, who confirmed Galbraith was Rowling's pseudonym.<ref name="Lyall-2013">{{cite news|last=Lyall|first=Sarah|date=14 July 2013|title=This detective novel's story doesn't add up|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/books/a-detective-storys-famous-author-is-unmasked.html|url-status=live|url-access=registration|access-date=13 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126065844/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/books/a-detective-storys-famous-author-is-unmasked.html|archive-date=26 January 2017}}</ref> Rowling later said she enjoyed working as Robert Galbraith,<ref>{{cite news|last=Watts|first=Robert|date=13 July 2013|title=JK Rowling unmasked as author of acclaimed detective novel|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10178344/JK-Rowling-unmasked-as-author-of-acclaimed-detective-novel.html|url-status=live|url-access=registration|access-date=13 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227125109/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10178344/JK-Rowling-unmasked-as-author-of-acclaimed-detective-novel.html|archive-date=27 December 2019}}</ref> a name she took from [[Robert F. Kennedy]], a personal hero, and Ella Galbraith, a name she invented for herself in childhood.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=116}} After the revelation of her identity, sales of ''Cuckoo's Calling'' escalated.<ref name="Meikle-2013">{{cite news|title=JK Rowling directs anger at lawyers after secret identity revealed|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/18/jk-rowling-anger-lawyers-secret-identity|access-date=19 July 2013|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=18 July 2013|first=James|last=Meikle|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013065654/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/18/jk-rowling-anger-lawyers-secret-identity|archive-date=13 October 2013}}</ref>

Continuing the ''[[Cormoran Strike]]'' series of detective novels, ''[[The Silkworm]]'' was released in 2014;{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=592}} ''[[Career of Evil]]'' in 2015;{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=618}} ''[[Lethal White]]'' in 2018;<ref name="LethalReveal">{{cite web|date=10 July 2018|title=Lethal White: JK Rowling reveals Strike release date|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44779006|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027174350/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44779006|archive-date=27 October 2018|access-date=27 October 2018|publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> ''[[Troubled Blood]]'' in 2020;<ref>{{cite news|last=Rodger|first=James|date=19 February 2020|title=JK Rowling announces fifth Cormoran Strike novel Troubled Blood under pseudonym Robert Galbraith|work=[[Birmingham Mail]]|url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/jk-rowling-announces-fifth-cormoran-17778415|url-status=live|access-date=13 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620160956/https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/showbiz-tv/jk-rowling-announces-fifth-cormoran-17778415|archive-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> ''[[The Ink Black Heart]]'' in 2022;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/ink-black-heart-robert-galbraith-review-jk-rowlings-strike-faces/ |title=The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith review: JK Rowling's Strike faces the social media trolls |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |first=Jake |last=Kerridge |date=27 August 2022|access-date=30 August 2022}}</ref> ''[[The Running Grave]]'' in 2023;<ref name="Brown-2023" /> and ''[[The Hallmarked Man]]'', which was released in September 2025.<ref name="Hallmarked">{{Cite news |date=29 May 2025 |title=JK Rowling's new Cormoran Strike novel announced - including release date |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/jk-rowling-new-cormoran-strike-novel-under-robert-galbraith-announced-including-release-date-plot-details-5151525 |access-date=1 September 2025 |newspaper=The Scotsman}}</ref> In 2017, [[BBC One]] aired the first episode<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/when-is-strike-the-cuckoos-calling-on-tv/ |title=When is Strike: The Cuckoo's Calling on TV? |first=How |last=Fullerton |date=24 August 2017 |magazine=[[Radio Times]] |access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref> of the five-season series [[Strike (TV series)|''Strike'']], a television adaptation of the ''Cormoran Strike'' novels starring [[Tom Burke (actor)|Tom Burke]] and [[Holliday Grainger]], with a sixth season being shot in 2024.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jack |last=Seale |title=Strike: Troubled Blood review – the show's real hook: will Robin and Strike finally get together? |date=11 December 2022 |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/dec/11/strike-troubled-blood-review-the-shows-real-hook-will-robin-and-strike-finally-get-together |access-date=18 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kanter |first=Jake |date=1 February 2024 |title=JK Rowling's BBC Detective Series 'Strike' To Begin Season 6 Shoot This Month; HBO Back On Board |url=https://deadline.com/2024/02/jk-rowling-bbc-hbo-strike-season-6-shoot-february-2024-1235810746/ |access-date=18 March 2024 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref> The series was picked up by HBO for distribution in the United States and Canada.<ref>{{cite web|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |url=https://deadline.com/2016/10/hbcormoran-strike-hbo-drama-on-j-k-rowling-crime-novels-1201843188/|title=HBO picks up 'Cormoran Strike' crama based on J.K. Rowling's crime novels|last1=Andreeva|first1=Nellie|date=26 October 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112175803/http://deadline.com/2016/10/hbcormoran-strike-hbo-drama-on-j-k-rowling-crime-novels-1201843188/|archive-date=12 January 2017}}</ref>

=== Later ''Harry Potter'' works ===
{{Main|Wizarding World Digital|Harry Potter and the Cursed Child{{!}}''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child''}}
{{for|the material written for [[Comic Relief]] and other charities|#Philanthropy}}
[[File:Palace Theatre - May 2017 4.jpg|thumb|upright |''[[Harry Potter and the Cursed Child]]'' at the [[Palace Theatre, London|Palace Theatre]] in the [[West End theatre|West End]], 2017]]

Rowling launched ''Pottermore'' in 2011, an e-book publisher and interactive content portal on which she would publish articles about the Harry Potter universe. Rowling had reserved e-book and audiobook publishing rights, and until 2015, sales could only be fulfilled through Pottermore, bypassing other marketing formats. In 2015 the innovative new media site moved to a more traditional content model, and Rowling allowed digital sales to transition to an industry standard open-commerce model.{{Sfn|Brummitt|2016|pp=112, 114–118}} The site was migrated to [[Wizarding World Digital]] in 2019, retaining original content, and now operates under the name HarryPotter.com.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 October 2024 |title=Farewell Wizarding World: Harry Potter becomes the brand once more |url=https://www.therowlinglibrary.com/2024/10/15/farewell-wizarding-world-harry-potter-becomes-the-brand-once-more/ |access-date=25 June 2025 |website=The Rowling Library}}</ref>

''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' premiered in the [[West End theatre|West End]] in May 2016{{sfn|Brummitt|Sellars|2019|pp=108–111}} and on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in July.<ref name="Sulcas-2018">{{Cite news|last=Sulcas|first=Roslyn|date=21 February 2018|title=How much magic can 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' make on Broadway?|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/theater/harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child-jk-rowling.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221124643/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/theater/harry-potter-and-the-cursed-child-jk-rowling.html |archive-date=21 February 2018 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref> At its London premiere, Rowling confirmed that she would not write any more ''Harry Potter'' books.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Babington|first1=Deepa|last2=Maguire|first2=Francis|date=30 July 2016|title=J.K. Rowling bids farewell to Harry Potter at 'Cursed Child' gala|publisher=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-entertainment-harrypotter-idUSKCN10A0OP|access-date=8 January 2022}}</ref> Rowling collaborated with writer [[Jack Thorne]] and director [[John Tiffany]].{{sfn|Brummitt|Sellars|2019|pp=108–111}}<ref name="Sulcas-2018" /> The stage play's script was published as a book in July 2016.{{sfn|Birch|2016|pp=96–97}} The play follows the friendship between Harry's son Albus and Scorpius Malfoy, [[Draco Malfoy]]'s son, at Hogwarts.<ref name="Sulcas-2018" />

Announced in April 2023,<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Weprin |first=Alex |date=23 February 2024 |title=Harry Potter TV Series Aiming for 2026 Debut on Max |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/harry-potter-tv-series-2026-debut-hbo-max-1235833774/ |access-date=18 March 2024 |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> the [[Harry Potter (TV series)|''Harry Potter'' television series]] will begin in 2026,<ref name="Craig-2025" /><ref>{{cite web|last=White|first=Peter|title='Harry Potter' & 'Welcome To Derry' Moving From Max To HBO As Part Of Big-Budget Streaming Strategy Rethink|url=https://deadline.com/2024/06/harry-potter-welcome-to-derry-moving-from-max-to-hbo-1235983023/|work=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=25 June 2024|access-date=25 June 2024}}</ref> span ten years of production and feature a season dedicated to each of the seven [[Harry Potter books|''Harry Potter'' books]], with Rowling as [[Executive producer (television)|executive producer]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/harry-potter-tv-series-hbo-max-1235578295/|title='Harry Potter' series adaptation officially ordered at HBO Max, will feature entirely new cast|access-date=15 April 2023|date=12 April 2023|first=Joe|last=Otterson|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

=== Children's stories ===
{{Main|The Ickabog{{!}}''The Ickabog''|The Christmas Pig{{!}}''The Christmas Pig''}}

''The Ickabog'' was Rowling's first book aimed at children since ''Harry Potter''.<ref name="bbc20201011">{{Cite news|date=10 November 2020|title=JK Rowling's The Ickabog child illustrators chosen for book|publisher=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-54892322|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> Ickabog is a monster that turns out to be real; a group of children find out the truth about the Ickabog and save the day.{{sfn|Quealy-Gainer|2020}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lyall|first=Sarah|date=5 December 2020|title=J.K. Rowling's new non-Potter children's book|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/books/review/rowling-the-ickabog.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205163200/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/books/review/rowling-the-ickabog.html |archive-date=5 December 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> Rowling released ''The Ickabog'' free online in mid-2020, during the [[COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom]].<ref name="Flood-2020">{{cite news|last=Flood|first=Alison|date=26 May 2020|title=JK Rowling announces new children's book, The Ickabog, to be published free online|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/26/jk-rowling-announces-new-childrens-book-the-ickabog-to-be-published-free-online|access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref> She began writing it in 2009 but set it aside to focus on other works including ''Casual Vacancy''.<ref name="Flood-2020" /> Scholastic held a competition to select children's art for the print edition, which was published in the US and Canada on 10 November 2020.<ref name="CBC2020">{{Cite news|date=24 November 2020|title=J.K. Rowling's new children's book The Ickabog features illustrations from 9 Canadian kids|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]]|url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/j-k-rowling-s-new-children-s-book-the-ickabog-features-illustrations-from-9-canadian-kids-1.5814195|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> Profits went to charities focused on COVID-19 relief.<ref name="bbc20201011" /><ref name="COVIDIndia" />

In ''The Christmas Pig'', a young boy loses his favourite stuffed animal, a pig, and the Christmas Pig guides him through the fantastical Land of the Lost to retrieve it.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Seymour|first=Miranda|author-link=Miranda Seymour|date=12 October 2021|title=In J.K. Rowling's latest fantasy novel, pigs do fly|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/books/review/jk-rowling-the-christmas-pig.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012164203/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/books/review/jk-rowling-the-christmas-pig.html |archive-date=12 October 2021 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=17 January 2022}}</ref> The novel was published on 12 October 2021<ref name="kirkus20211021">{{Cite web|date=21 October 2021|title=The Christmas Pig|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jk-rowling/the-christmas-pig/|access-date=17 January 2022|work=[[Kirkus Reviews]]}}</ref> and became a bestseller in the UK<ref>{{Cite web|last=O'Brien|first=Kiera|date=19 October 2021|title=Rowling's Christmas Pig jingles all the way to number one|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/christmas-pig-jingles-all-way-number-one-spot-1284979|access-date=17 January 2022|website=[[The Bookseller]]}}</ref> and the US.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Egan|first=Elisabeth|date=2 December 2021|title=Veteran authors and mistletoe descend on the best-seller list |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/02/books/review/richard-paul-evans-the-christmas-promise.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202100950/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/02/books/review/richard-paul-evans-the-christmas-promise.html |archive-date=2 December 2021 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=31 January 2022|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

== Influences ==
{{See also|Harry Potter influences and analogues{{!}}''Harry Potter'' influences and analogues}}
{{Multiple image|total_width=330|direction=horizontal
|image1=Jessica Mitford, by William Acton.jpg
|alt1=
|caption1=Rowling describes [[Jessica Mitford]] as her greatest influence.
|image2=Jane Austen, from A Memoir of Jane Austen (1870).jpg
|alt2=Jane Austen is Rowling's favourite author.
|caption2=[[Jane Austen]] is Rowling's favourite writer.
}}
Rowling has named [[Jessica Mitford]] as her greatest influence. She said Mitford had "been my heroine since I was 14 years old, when I overheard my formidable great-aunt discussing how Mitford had run away at the age of 19 to fight with the Reds in the [[Spanish Civil War]]", and that what inspired her about Mitford was that she was "incurably and instinctively rebellious, brave, adventurous, funny and irreverent, she liked nothing better than a good fight, preferably against a pompous and hypocritical target".<ref>{{cite news|title=The first It girl|last1=Rowling|first1=J. K.|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3656769/The-first-It-Girl.html|date=26 November 2006|access-date=13 June 2020|url-status=live|url-access=registration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019073539/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3656769/The-first-It-Girl.html|archive-date=19 October 2016}}</ref> As a child, Rowling read [[C. S. Lewis]]'s ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'', [[Elizabeth Goudge]]'s ''[[The Little White Horse]]'', ''[[Manxmouse]]'' by [[Paul Gallico]], and books by [[E. Nesbit]] and [[Noel Streatfeild]].{{sfn|Nel|2001|p=9}} Rowling describes Jane Austen as her "favourite author of all time".{{Sfn|Hopkins|2016|p=55}}

Rowling acknowledges [[Homer]], [[Geoffrey Chaucer]], and [[William Shakespeare]] as literary influences.{{Sfn|Groves|2017|p=xiii}} Scholars agree that ''Harry Potter'' is heavily influenced by the [[children's fantasy]] of writers such as Lewis, Goudge, Nesbit, [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], [[Ursula K. Le Guin]], and [[Diana Wynne Jones]].{{Sfn|Groves|2017|p=xii}} According to the critic Beatrice Groves, ''Harry Potter'' is also "rooted in the [[Western canon|Western literary tradition]]", including the classics.{{Sfn|Groves|2017|pp=x, xii}} Commentators also note similarities to the children's stories of [[Enid Blyton]] and [[Roald Dahl]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Groves|2017|p=xii}}; {{Harvnb|Berberich|2015|pp=151–154}}; {{Harvnb|Pinsent|2002|p=28}}.</ref> Rowling expresses admiration for Lewis, in whose writing battles between good and evil are also prominent, but rejects any connection with Dahl.{{sfn|Pinsent|2002|p=28}}

Earlier works prominently featuring characters who learn to use magic include Le Guin's ''[[Earthsea]]'' series, in which a school of wizardry also appears, and the ''[[Chrestomanci]]'' books by Jones.{{sfn|Pinsent|2002|pp=27–30}}{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2008|pp=229–233}} Rowling's setting of a "school of witchcraft and wizardry" departs from the still older tradition of protagonists as apprentices to magicians, exemplified by ''[[The Sorcerer's Apprentice]]'': yet this trope does appear in ''Harry Potter'', when Harry receives individual instruction from [[Remus Lupin]] and other teachers.{{sfn|Pinsent|2002|pp=27–30}} Rowling also draws on the tradition of [[School story|stories set in boarding schools]], a major example of which is [[Thomas Hughes]]'s 1857 volume ''[[Tom Brown's School Days]]''.{{sfn|Pinsent|2002|p=27}}{{Sfn|Alton|2008|pp=211–214}}

== Style and themes ==
{{Further-text|[[Harry Potter|''Harry Potter'' series]]}}

=== Style and allusions ===
Rowling is known primarily as an author of [[fantasy]] and [[children's literature]].{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=11,20}} Her writing in other genres, including [[literary fiction]] and [[murder mystery]], has received less critical attention.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=107}} Rowling's most famous work, ''Harry Potter'', has been defined as a [[fairy tale]], a [[Bildungsroman]] and a boarding-school story.{{Sfn|Pharr|2016|p=10}}{{sfn|Alton|2008|p=211}} Her other writings have been described by Pugh as gritty contemporary fiction with historical influences (''The Casual Vacancy'') and [[hardboiled]] detective fiction (''Cormoran Strike'').{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=114–116}}

In ''Harry Potter'', Rowling juxtaposes the extraordinary against the ordinary.{{Sfn|Natov|2002|p=129}} Her narrative features two worlds – the mundane and the fantastic – but it differs from typical [[portal fantasy]] in that its magical elements stay grounded in the everyday.{{sfn|Butler|2012|pp=233–234}} Paintings move and talk; books bite readers; letters shout messages; and maps show live journeys,{{Sfn|Natov|2002|p=129}}{{sfn|Butler|2012|p=234}} making the wizarding world "both exotic and cosily familiar" according to the scholar [[Catherine Butler]].{{sfn|Butler|2012|p=234}} This blend of realistic and romantic elements extends to Rowling's characters.{{sfn|Park|2003|p=183}}{{Sfn|Natov|2002|p=130}} Harry is ordinary and relatable, with down-to-earth features such as wearing broken glasses;{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2008|p=233}} these elements serve to highlight Harry when he is heroic, making him both an [[everyman]] and a fairytale hero.{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2008|p=233}}{{sfn|Ostry|2003|pp=90, 97–98}}

[[Arthurian]], Christian and fairytale motifs are frequently found in Rowling's writing. Harry's ability to draw the [[Sword of Gryffindor]] from the [[Sorting Hat]] resembles the Arthurian [[Excalibur|sword in the stone]] legend.{{sfn|Alton|2008|p=216}} His life with the Dursleys has been compared to [[Cinderella]].{{sfn|Gallardo|Smith|2003|p=195}} Like C. S. Lewis's ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', ''Harry Potter'' contains Christian symbolism and [[allegory]]. The series has been viewed as a Christian moral fable in the [[psychomachia]] tradition, in which stand-ins for good and evil fight for supremacy over a person's soul.{{Sfn|Singer|2016|pp=26–27}} The critic of children's literature Joy Farmer sees parallels between Harry and [[Jesus Christ]].{{Sfn|Farmer|2001|p=58}} According to [[Maria Nikolajeva]], Christian imagery is particularly strong in the final scenes of the series: she writes that Harry dies in self-sacrifice and Voldemort delivers an {{lang|la|[[ecce homo]]}} speech, after which Harry is [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrected]] and defeats his enemy.{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2008|pp=238–239}}

=== Themes ===
Death is Rowling's overarching theme in ''Harry Potter''.{{Sfn|Ciaccio|2008|pp=39–40}}{{Sfn|Groves|2017|pp=xxi–xxii, 135–136}} She later said that her literary creation of the [[Mirror of Erised]] is about her mother's death.{{sfn|Smith|2002|p=111}}  In the first book, when Harry looks into the mirror, he feels both joy and "a terrible sadness" at seeing his desire: his parents, alive and with him.{{sfn|Natov|2002|pp=134–136}} Confronting their loss is central to Harry's character arc and manifests in different ways through the series, such as in his struggles with [[Magical creatures in Harry Potter#Dementors|Dementors]].{{sfn|Natov|2002|pp=134–136}}{{sfn|Taub|Servaty-Seib|2008|pp=23–27}} Other characters in Harry's life die; he even faces his own death in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''.{{Sfn|Pharr|2016|pp=20–21}} Soon after she started writing ''Philosopher's Stone'', her mother died, and she said that "I really think from that moment on, death became a central, if not the central theme of the seven books".{{sfn|Groves|2017|p=138}} Rowling has described Harry as "the prism through which I view death", and further stated that "all of my characters are defined by their attitude to death and the possibility of death".{{sfn|Groves|2017|p=135}}

While ''Harry Potter'' can be viewed as a story about good versus evil, its moral divisions are not absolute.{{sfn|Schanoes|2003|pp=131–132}}{{sfn|McEvoy|2016|p=207}} First impressions of characters are often misleading. Harry assumes in the first book that Quirrell is good because he opposes Snape, who appears malicious; in reality, their positions are reversed.{{sfn|Schanoes|2003|pp=131–132}} In Rowling's world, good and evil are choices rather than inherent attributes: second chances and redemption are key themes of the series.<ref>{{harvnb|Doughty|2002|pp=247–249}}; {{harvnb|McEvoy|2016|pp=207, 211–213}}; {{harvnb|Berberich|2016|p=153}}.</ref>

== Reception ==
<!-- Paragraph on commercial reception-->Rowling has enjoyed enormous commercial success as an author. Her ''Harry Potter'' series topped bestseller lists,{{Sfn|Whited|2002|pp=1–3}} spawned a [[Wizarding World|global media franchise]] including [[Harry Potter (films)|films]]{{Sfn|Pugh|2020|p=4}} and [[Harry Potter (games)|video games]],{{Sfn|Gupta|2009|p=17}} and [[Harry Potter in translation|had been translated]] into 84&nbsp;languages by 2023.{{sfn|Marsick|2023}} The first three ''Harry Potter'' books occupied the top three spots of [[The New York Times bestseller list|''The New York Times'' bestseller list]] for more than a year; they were then moved to a newly created children's list.{{sfn|Anatol|2003|pp=ix–x}} The final four books each set records as the fastest-selling books in the UK or US,{{efn|Attributed to multiple sources – ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire|Goblet of Fire]]'',{{sfn|Beckett|2008|loc=p. 114: "''The Goblet of Fire'' was the fastest-selling book in history."}} ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix|Order of the Phoenix]]'',{{sfn|Grenby|2016|loc=p. 1: "''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' (2003) was the fastest selling book in UK history (5 million copies in one day)"}} ''[[Half-Blood Prince]]'', and ''[[Deathly Hallows]]''{{sfn|Falconer|2008|loc=p. 16: "''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince''&nbsp;... broke records as the fastest selling book in history, selling nine million copies on its first day in July 2005. The final volume went even further and broke sales records on both sides of the Atlantic, selling eleven million copies in its first 24 hours."}}}} and the series as a whole had sold more than 600&nbsp;million copies {{As of|2023|lc=yes}}.{{sfn|Marsick|2023}} Neither of Rowling's later works, ''[[The Casual Vacancy]]'' and the ''[[Cormoran Strike]]'' series, has been as successful,{{Sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=107–108, 122–123}} although ''Casual Vacancy'' was still a bestseller in the UK within weeks of its release.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Stone|first=Philip|date=9 October 2012|title=Casual Vacancy keeps pole position|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/casual-vacancy-keeps-pole-position|access-date=10 January 2022|work=[[The Bookseller]]}}</ref> ''Harry Potter''{{'s}} popularity has been attributed to factors including the nostalgia evoked by the boarding-school story, the endearing nature of Rowling's characters, and the accessibility of her books to a variety of readers.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=166, 168–169}}{{sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=106, 108}} According to [[Julia Eccleshare]], the books are "neither too literary nor too popular, too difficult nor too easy, neither too young nor too old", and hence bridge traditional reading divides.{{sfn|Eccleshare|2002|p=106}}

<!-- Paragraph on critical reception of Harry Potter-->Critical response to ''Harry Potter'' has been more mixed.{{sfn|Westman|2006|loc="The critical response"}} [[Harold Bloom]] regarded Rowling's prose as poor and her plots as conventional,{{sfn|Nel|2001|pp=59–60}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Bloom|first=Harold|author-link=Harold Bloom|date=11 July 2000|title=Can 35 million book buyers be wrong? Yes|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB963270836801555352|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url-access=subscription|id={{ProQuest|1931451165}}|page=A26}}</ref> while [[Jack Zipes]] argues that the series would not be successful if it were not formulaic.{{sfn|Teare|2002|pp=332–333}} Zipes states that the early novels have the same plot: in each book, Harry escapes the Dursleys to visit Hogwarts, where he confronts Lord Voldemort and then heads back successful.{{Sfn|Zipes|2013|pp=176–177}}<!--Zipes is the most highly cited out of all the literary critics here, so should be easy to add a secondary source--> Rowling's prose has been described as simple and not innovative; [[Le Guin]], like several other critics, considered it "stylistically ordinary".{{Sfn|Sunderland|Dempster|Thistlethwaite|2016|p=35}} According to the novelist [[A. S. Byatt]], the books reflect a dumbed-down culture dominated by [[soap opera]]s and [[reality television]].{{sfn|Pharr|2016|p=10}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=Byatt|first=A. S.|author-link=A. S. Byatt|date=7 July 2003|title=Harry Potter and the childish adult|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/07/opinion/harry-potter-and-the-childish-adult.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417131152/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/07/opinion/harry-potter-and-the-childish-adult.html |archive-date=17 April 2009 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> Thus, some critics argue, ''Harry Potter'' does not innovate on established literary forms; nor does it challenge readers' preconceived ideas.{{Sfn|Pharr|2016|p=10}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Hensher|first=Philip|author-link=Philip Hensher|date=25 January 2000|title=Harry Potter, give me a break|page=1|work=[[The Independent]]|id={{ProQuest|311572655}}}}</ref> Conversely, the scholar [[Philip Nel]] rejects such critiques as "snobbery" that reacts to the novels' popularity,{{sfn|Nel|2001|pp=59–60}} whereas Mary Pharr argues that ''Harry Potter''{{'s}} conventionalism is the point: by amalgamating literary forms familiar to her readers, Rowling invites them to "ponder their own ideas".{{Sfn|Pharr|2016|p=15}} Other critics who see artistic merit in Rowling's writing include [[Marina Warner]], who views ''Harry Potter'' as part of an "alternative genealogy" of English literature that she traces from [[Edmund Spenser]] to [[Christina Rossetti]].{{sfn|Westman|2006|loc="The critical response"}} [[Michiko Kakutani]] praises Rowling's fictional world and the darker tone of the series' later entries.{{sfn|Whited|2015|pp=64–65}}

<!-- Paragraph on critical reception of Rowling's other works-->Reception of Rowling's later works has varied among critics. ''The Casual Vacancy'', her attempt at literary fiction, drew mixed reviews. Some critics praised its characterisation, while others stated that it would have been better if it had contained magic.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=115}} The ''Cormoran Strike'' series was more warmly received as a work of British detective fiction, even as some reviewers noted that its plots are occasionally contrived.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=122–123}} Theatrical reviews of ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'' were highly positive.{{sfn|Brummitt|Sellars|2019|pp=108–111}}<ref name="Sulcas-2018" /> Fans have been more critical of the play's use of [[time travel]], changes to characters' personalities, and perceived [[queerbaiting]] in Albus and Scorpius's relationship, leading some to question its connection to the ''Harry Potter'' canon.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=94–98}}

=== Gender and social division ===
<!-- This section heading is linked above in the Religion, wealth and remarriage section--><!--Rejigging to begin with Rowling – The ''Harry Potter'' series has been described as including complex and varied representations of female characters-->Rowling's portrayal of women in ''Harry Potter'' has been described as complex and varied, but nonetheless conforming to stereotypical and [[patriarchal]] depictions of gender.<ref>{{Harvnb|Heilman|Donaldson|2008|pp=139–141}}; {{Harvnb|Pugh|Wallace|2006}}; {{Harvnb|Eberhardt|2017}}.</ref> Gender divides are ostensibly absent in the books: Hogwarts is [[coeducational]] and women hold positions of power in wizarding society. However, this setting obscures the typecasting of female characters and the general depiction of conventional gender roles.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pugh|Wallace|2006}}; {{Harvnb|Eccleshare|2002|pp=84–87}}; {{Harvnb|Gallardo|Smith|2003|p=191}}.</ref> According to the scholars Elizabeth Heilman and Trevor Donaldson, the subordination of female characters goes further early in the series. The final three books "showcase richer roles and more powerful females": for instance, the series' "most matriarchal character", Molly Weasley, engages substantially in the final battle of ''Deathly Hallows'', while other women are shown as leaders.{{sfn|Heilman|Donaldson|2008|pp=139–141}} Hermione Granger, in particular, becomes an active and independent character essential to the protagonists' battle against evil.{{sfn|Berents|2012|pp=144–149}} Yet, even particularly capable female characters such as Hermione and [[Minerva McGonagall]] are placed in supporting roles,{{sfn|Heilman|Donaldson|2008|pp=142–147}} and Hermione's status as a feminist model is debated.{{sfn|Bell|Alexander|2012|pp=1–8}} Girls and women are frequently shown as emotional, defined by their appearance, and denied agency in family settings.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pugh|Wallace|2006}}; {{Harvnb|Heilman|Donaldson|2008|pp=149–155}}.</ref>

The social hierarchies in Rowling's magical world have been a matter of debate among scholars and critics.{{sfn|Horne|2010|pp=81–82}} The primary antagonists of ''Harry Potter'', Voldemort and his followers, believe blood purity is paramount, and that non-wizards, or "muggles", are subhuman.<ref>{{Harvnb|Barratt|2012|pp=63, 67}}; {{Harvnb|Nel|2001|p=44}}; {{Harvnb|Eccleshare|2002|p=78}}.</ref> Their ideology of racial difference is depicted as unambiguously evil.<ref>{{Harvnb|Gupta|2009|p=104}}; {{Harvnb|Guanio-Uluru|2015|p=121}}; {{Harvnb|Nel|2001|pp=43–45}}.</ref> However, the series cannot wholly reject racial division, according to several scholars, as it still depicts wizards as fundamentally superior to muggles.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ostry|2003|pp=95–98}}; {{Harvnb|Blake|2002|pp=104–106}}; {{Harvnb|Gupta|2009|pp=105–107}}; {{Harvnb|Mendlesohn|2002|pp=176–177}}; {{Harvnb|Nikolajeva|2008|pp=237–239}}.</ref> Blake and Zipes argue that numerous examples of wizardly superiority are depicted as "natural and comfortable".{{sfn|Gupta|2009|pp=105–107}} Thus, according to Gupta, ''Harry Potter'' depicts superior races as having a moral obligation of tolerance and altruism towards lesser races, rather than explicitly depicting equality.{{sfn|Gupta|2009|pp=108–110}}

Rowling's depictions of the status of magical non-humans is similarly debated.{{sfn|Horne|2010|pp=76–77}} Discussing the slavery of [[house-elves]] within ''Harry Potter'', scholars such as [[Brycchan Carey]] have praised the books' [[abolitionist]] sentiments, viewing Hermione's [[Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare]] as a model for younger readers' political engagement.<ref>{{Harvnb|Carey|2003|pp=105–107, 114}}; {{Harvnb|Horne|2010|p=76}}</ref> Other critics, including [[Farah Mendlesohn]], find the portrayal of house-elves extremely troublesome; they are written as happy in their slavery, and Hermione's efforts on their behalf are implied to be naïve.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mendlesohn|2002|pp=178–181}}; {{Harvnb|Horne|2010|p=81}}.</ref> Pharr terms the house-elves a disharmonious element in the series, writing that Rowling leaves their fate hanging;{{sfn|Pharr|2016|pp=12–13}} at the end of ''Deathly Hallows'', the elves remain enslaved and cheerful.{{sfn|Barratt|2012|p=52}} More generally, the subordination of magical non-humans remains in place, unchanged by the defeat of Voldemort.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dendle|2008|pp=171–173}}; {{Harvnb|Horne|2010|pp=96–97}}.</ref> Thus, scholars suggest, the series's message is essentially conservative; it sees no reason to transform social hierarchies, only being concerned with who holds positions of power.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ostry|2003|pp=95–98}}; {{Harvnb|Applebaum|2008|pp=92–93}}; {{Harvnb|Heilman|Donaldson|2008|pp=140–142}}; {{Harvnb|Horne|2010|pp=96–97}}; {{Harvnb|Mendlesohn|2002|pp=180–182}}.</ref>

=== Religious reactions ===
{{Main|Religious debates over the Harry Potter series{{!}}Religious debates over the ''Harry Potter'' series}}
<!--This section is linked above, in the Religion, wealth and remarriage section-->There have been [[book censorship|attempts to ban]] ''Harry Potter'' around the world, especially in the United States,{{sfn|Gupta|2009|pp=18–20}}{{sfn|Cockrell|2006}} and in the [[Bible Belt]] in particular.{{sfn|McAvan|2012|pp=100–103}} The series topped the [[American Library Association]]'s list of most challenged books in the first three years of its publication.{{sfn|Gupta|2009|p=18}} In the following years, parents in several US cities launched protests against teaching it in schools.{{sfn|Foerstel|2002|pp=[[iarchive:bannedinusarefer00foer/page/180/mode/1up|180–188]]}} Some Christian critics, particularly [[Evangelical Christians]], have claimed that the novels promote witchcraft and harm children;{{Sfn|Whited|2002|pp=3–4}}{{sfn|Guanio-Uluru|2015|pp=85–86}} similar opposition has been expressed to the film adaptations.{{sfn|Gibson|2007|pp=187–190}} Criticism has taken two main forms: allegations that ''Harry Potter'' is a [[pagan]] text; and claims that it encourages children to oppose authority, derived mainly from Harry's rejection of the Dursleys, his guardians.{{sfn|Gibson|2007|pp=188–190}} The author and scholar Amanda Cockrell suggests that ''Harry Potter''{{'s}} popularity, and recent preoccupation with fantasy and the occult among Christian fundamentalists, explains why the series received particular opposition.{{sfn|Cockrell|2006}} Some groups of [[Shia]] and [[Sunni]] Muslims also argued that the series contained Satanic subtext, and it was banned in private schools in the [[United Arab Emirates]] by its Ministry of Education and Youth, which stated it contradicted Islamic values.{{sfn|Guanio-Uluru|2015|p=85}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1816012.stm|publisher=[[BBC News]]|title=Emirates ban Potter book|date=12 February 2002|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/feb/14/news|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=Harry Potter expelled from UAE schools|date=14 February 2002|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref>

The ''Harry Potter'' books also have a group of vocal religious supporters who believe that ''Harry Potter'' espouses Christian values, or that the Bible does not prohibit the forms of magic described in the series.{{sfn|Gibson|2007|pp=192–193}} Christian analyses of the series have argued that it embraces ideals of friendship, loyalty, courage, love, and the temptation of power.{{sfn|Taub|Servaty-Seib|2008|pp=15–17}}{{sfn|Ciaccio|2008|pp=33–37}} After the final volume was published, Rowling said she intentionally incorporated Christian themes, in particular the idea that love may hold power over death.{{sfn|Taub|Servaty-Seib|2008|pp=15–17}} According to Farmer, it is a profound misreading to think that ''Harry Potter'' promotes witchcraft.{{sfn|Farmer|2001|p=53}} The scholar Em McAvan writes that evangelical objections to ''Harry Potter'' are superficial, based on the presence of magic in the books: they do not attempt to understand the moral messages in the series.{{sfn|McAvan|2012|pp=100–103}}

== Legacy ==
[[File:Harry Potter sculpture in Leicester Square (50725720988).jpg|alt=Sculpture of Harry Potter in Leicester Square, London, 2020|thumb|Sculpture of Harry Potter as part of the ''[[Scenes in the Square]]'' sculpture trail in [[Leicester Square]], London, 2020]]
Rowling's ''Harry Potter'' series has been credited with a resurgence in crossover fiction: children's literature with an adult appeal.{{sfn|Beckett|2008|pp=85, 111}}{{efn|While noting the prevalent view that ''Harry Potter'' catalysed this change, the critic Rachel Falconer also credits socio-economic factors. In her view, Rowling's success is part of "a larger cultural change in contemporary Western society which accords greater weight and value to the signifier, the 'child', than in previous decades".{{sfn|Falconer|2010|p=87}}}} Crossovers were prevalent in 19th-century American and British fiction, but fell out of favour<!--For reference, the source says "subsequent history shows us how scholars and librarians of the twentieth century sought to establish that line between adult literature and children's literature"
--> in the 20th century{{sfn|Westman|2011|p=104}} and did not occur at the same scale.{{sfn|Beckett|2008|p=111}} The post-''Harry Potter'' crossover trend is associated with the fantasy genre.{{sfn|Beckett|2008|p=135}} In the 1970s, children's books were generally [[Realism (arts)|realistic]] as opposed to fantastic,{{Sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=106–108}} while adult fantasy became popular because of the influence of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.{{sfn|Stableford|2009|pp=xli, lx–lxi, 72}} The next decade saw an increasing interest in grim, realist themes, with an outflow of fantasy readers and writers to adult works.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=161–162}}{{sfn|Stableford|2009|pp=72–73}}

The commercial success of ''Harry Potter'' in 1997 reversed this trend.{{sfn|Stableford|2009|p=73}} The scale of its growth had no precedent in the children's market: within four years, it occupied 28% of that field by revenue.{{Sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=108–109}} Children's literature rose in cultural status,{{Sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=105–106}} and fantasy became a dominant genre.{{sfn|Beckett|2008|p=135}}{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=164–165}} Older works of children's fantasy, including [[Diana Wynne Jones]]'s ''[[Chrestomanci]]'' series and [[Diane Duane]]'s ''[[Young Wizards]]'', were reprinted and rose in popularity; some authors re-established their careers.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|p=167}} In the following decades, many ''Harry Potter'' imitators and subversive responses grew popular.{{sfn|Levy|Mendlesohn|2016|pp=168–170}}{{sfn|Striphas|2009|pp=158–159, 166–167}}

Rowling has been compared with [[Enid Blyton]], who also wrote in simple language about groups of children and long held sway over the British children's market.{{sfn|Mendlesohn|James|2012|p=167}}{{sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=33–35}} She has also been described as an heir to [[Roald Dahl]].{{sfn|Eccleshare|2002|pp=10–12}} Some critics view ''Harry Potter''{{'s}} rise, along with the concurrent success of [[Philip Pullman]]'s ''[[His Dark Materials]]'', as part of a broader shift in reading tastes: a rejection of literary fiction in favour of plot and adventure.{{sfn|Mendlesohn|James|2012|pp=165, 171}} This is reflected in the BBC's 2003 "[[Big Read]]" survey of the UK's favourite books, where Pullman and Rowling ranked at numbers&nbsp;3 and 5, respectively, with very few British literary classics in the top&nbsp;10.{{sfn|Mendlesohn|James|2012|p=165}}

''Harry Potter''{{'s}} popularity led its publishers to plan elaborate releases and fostered additional publications by fans and forgers after the books. Beginning with the release of ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' on 8&nbsp;July 1999 at 3:45&nbsp;pm,{{sfn|Anelli|2008|p=69}}{{clarify|Timezone?|date=August 2025}} its publishers coordinated selling the books at the same time globally, introduced security protocols to prevent premature purchases, and required booksellers to agree not to sell copies before the appointed time.{{sfn|Striphas|2009|pp=146–148}} Driven by the growth of the internet, [[fan fiction]] about the series proliferated and has spawned a diverse community of readers and writers.{{Sfn|Gupta|2009|p=217}}{{sfn|Duggan|2021}} While Rowling has supported fan fiction, her statements about characters made after the books were published but not included in the books – for instance, that Harry and Hermione could have been a couple, and that Dumbledore was gay – have complicated her relationship with readers;{{sfn|Thomas|2019|pp=154–155}}{{sfn|Tosenberger|2008|pp=196, 199}}{{efn|According to Pugh, she only announced Dumbledore's sexuality to her fans, but not in the books, thus "closeting this character for unexplained reasons".{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=7}} }} according to scholars, this shows that modern readers feel a sense of ownership over the text that is independent of, and sometimes contradicts, [[authorial intent]].{{sfn|Thomas|2019|p=155}}{{sfn|Tosenberger|2008|pp=202–203}}

== Legal disputes ==
{{Main|Legal disputes over the Harry Potter series{{!}}Legal disputes over the ''Harry Potter'' series}}
In the 1990s and 2000s, Rowling was both a plaintiff and defendant in lawsuits alleging [[copyright infringement]]. Nancy Stouffer sued Rowling in 1999, alleging that ''Harry Potter'' was based on stories she published in 1984.{{sfn|Baker|2010|pp=[[iarchive:britishwriters00pari/page/225/mode/1up|225–40]]}}{{sfn|Whited|2002|pp=4–5}} Rowling won in September 2002.{{sfn|Pember|Calvert|2007|p=597}} [[Richard Posner]] describes Stouffer's suit as deeply flawed and notes that the court, finding she had used "forged and altered documents", assessed a $50,000 penalty against her.{{sfn|Posner|2007|p=8}}

With her literary agents and Warner Bros., Rowling has brought legal action against publishers and writers of ''Harry Potter'' knockoffs in several countries.{{sfn|Striphas|2009|pp=161–166}} In the mid-2000s, Rowling and her publishers obtained a series of injunctions prohibiting sales or published reviews of her books before their official release dates.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Geist|first1=Michael|title=Harry Potter and the amazing injunction|date=18 July 2005|page=C3|id={{ProQuest|438844169}}|work=[[Toronto Star]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Kirkpatrick|first=David D.|date=21 June 2003|title=Publisher's efforts to keep story's secrets collide with free speech concerns|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/21/nyregion/publisher-s-efforts-to-keep-story-s-secrets-collide-with-free-speech-concerns.html|url-status=live|url-access=registration|access-date=13 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103002304/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/21/nyregion/publisher-s-efforts-to-keep-story-s-secrets-collide-with-free-speech-concerns.html|archive-date=3 November 2011}}</ref>

Beginning in 2001, after Rowling sold film rights to Warner Bros., the studio tried to take ''Harry Potter'' fan sites offline unless it determined that they were made by "authentic" fans for innocuous purposes.{{sfn|Jenkins|2006|p=186}} In 2007, with Warner Bros., Rowling started proceedings to cease publication of a book based on content from a fan site called ''[[The Harry Potter Lexicon]]''.{{sfn|Baker|2010|pp=[[iarchive:britishwriters00pari/page/225/mode/1up|225–40]]}}{{sfn|Schwabach|2009|pp=428–429}} The court held that ''Lexicon'' was neither a [[fair use]] of Rowling's material nor a [[derivative work]], but it did not prevent the book from being published in a different form.{{sfn|Schwabach|2009|p=429}} ''Lexicon'' was published in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|last=Askari|first=Emilia|date=15 January 2009|title=Potter guide reaches stores|page=2|work=[[Detroit Free Press]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/92377200/potter-guide-reaches-stores/|via=[[newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

== Philanthropy ==
Rowling's charitable donations between 2005 and 2025 were estimated at over $200&nbsp;million by ''Forbes'',<ref name="Craig-2025">{{cite news |last1=Craig |first1=Matt |title=J.K. Rowling Is A Billionaire—Again |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattcraig/2025/05/30/jk-rowling-is-a-billionaire-again/ |access-date=3 June 2025 |work=[[Forbes]] |date=30 May 2025}}</ref> which also estimated she had donated $160&nbsp;million before 2012.<ref>{{cite news|title=J.K. Rowling: billionaire to millionaire|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/books/news/article.cfm?c_id=134&objectid=10791515|access-date=16 January 2013|date=12 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607200823/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/books/news/article.cfm?c_id=134&objectid=10791515|archive-date=7 June 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> She was the second most generous UK donor in 2015 (following the singer [[Elton John]]), giving about $14&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite news |title=Elton John, JK Rowling top list of charitable UK celebrities in 2015 |publisher=EFE News Service |date=17 April 2016|id={{ProQuest|1781399093}} |quote=Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, allocated around $14&nbsp;million for the benefit of two NGOs; the Lumos Foundation, which aims to end the institutionalizing of children by 2050, and the Volant Charitable Trust, which funds projects that alleviate social deprivation, as well as research into multiple sclerosis.}}</ref>

In 2000, she established the Volant Charitable Trust, named after her mother{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=5–6}} to address social deprivation in at-risk women, children and youth.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.volanttrust.org/about-us/ |title=About us |date=29 May 2016 |publisher=The Volant Charitable Trust |access-date=6 January 2022}}</ref> She was appointed president of One Parent Families (now [[Gingerbread (charity)|Gingerbread]]) in 2004,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oneparentfamilies.org.uk/1/lx3x1olx-5001x1oix1794x1/0/0/110707/0/0/J_K_Rowling_-_One_Parent.htm |title=J K Rowling becomes President of One Parent Families |publisher=[[Gingerbread (charity)|The National Council for One Parent Families]]|date=16 November 2004|access-date=20 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106031950/http://www.oneparentfamilies.org.uk/1/lx3x1olx-5001x1oix1794x1/0/0/110707/0/0/J_K_Rowling_-_One_Parent.htm |archive-date=6 November 2007}}</ref> after becoming its first ambassador in 2000.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=5–6}} She collaborated with [[Sarah Jane Brown|Sarah Brown]]<ref>{{cite news|date=13 May 2007|title=Gordon's women|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/may/13/labourleadership.labour1|url-status=live|access-date=20 October 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141003131104/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/may/13/labourleadership.labour1|archive-date=3 October 2014}}</ref> on a book of children's stories to benefit One Parent Families.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=5–6}} Together with the [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]] [[Emma Nicholson]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Our history|url=https://www.wearelumos.org/who-we-are/our-history/|publisher=[[Lumos (charity)|Lumos]] |access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref> Rowling founded the charity now known as [[Lumos (charity)|Lumos]] in 2005.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=5–6}} Lumos has worked with orphanages in Ukraine, Romania, Haiti, and Colombia, and it had supported at least 280,000 children by 2025.<ref name="Craig-2025" /> She has donated several hundred thousand [[Pound sterling|pounds]] to help women lawyers flee from the [[Taliban]]'s control, helping hundreds of [[Afghanistan|Afghans]] escape.<ref>{{cite news|first=Stephen|last=Stewart|title=Harry Potter author JK Rowling helped Afghan lawyers flee the Taliban|url=https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/harry-potter-author-jk-rowling-helped-afghan-lawyers-flee-the-taliban/|work=[[The Sunday Post]]|date=29 January 2023|access-date=12 February 2023}}</ref>

Rowling has made donations to support other medical causes. She named another institution after her mother in 2010, when she donated £10&nbsp;million to found a [[multiple sclerosis]] research centre at the [[University of Edinburgh]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=31 August 2010|title=J.K. Rowling gives millions for MS research|publisher=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-51184720100831|access-date=6 January 2022}}</ref> She gave an additional £15.3&nbsp;million to the centre in 2019.<ref>{{Cite news|date=12 September 2019|title=JK Rowling donates £15.3m to Edinburgh MS research centre|publisher=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-49661840|access-date=4 March 2022}}</ref> To support [[COVID-19]] relief, she donated six-figure sums to both [[Khalsa Aid]] and the [[British Asian Trust]] from royalties for ''The Ickabog''.<ref name="COVIDIndia">{{cite web|date=14 May 2021|title=JK Rowling donates money for COVID-19 relief work in India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/jk-rowling-donates-money-for-covid-19-relief-work-in-india/articleshow/82629822.cms|access-date=14 May 2021|work=[[Times of India]]}}</ref>

Several publications in the ''Harry Potter'' universe have been sold for charitable purposes. Profits from ''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (book)|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]'' and ''[[Quidditch Through the Ages]]'', both published in 2001, went to [[Comic Relief]].{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=5–6}} To support Children's Voice, later renamed Lumos, Rowling sold a deluxe copy of ''[[The Tales of Beedle the Bard]]'' at auction in 2007. [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]]'s £1.95&nbsp;million purchase set a record for a contemporary literary work and for children's literature.<ref>{{Cite news|date=14 December 2007|title=Amazon.com buys J.K. Rowling tales|publisher=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-amazon-rowling-idUKN1427375920071214|access-date=14 January 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Errington|2017|pp=704–705}} Rowling published the book and, in 2013, donated the proceeds of nearly £19&nbsp;million (then about $30&nbsp;million) to Lumos.<ref>{{cite news|title=Biography|publisher=JK Rowling|url=http://www.jkrowling.com/en_GB/#/about-jk-rowling|url-status=live|access-date=8 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804235110/http://www.jkrowling.com/en_GB#/about-jk-rowling|archive-date=4 August 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The season of giving – the millionaire donations that defined 2013|url=http://www.spearswms.com/spears-lists/lists/the-season-of-giving-the-millionaire-donations-that-defined-2013-4151578 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230120430/http://www.spearswms.com/spears-lists/lists/the-season-of-giving-the-millionaire-donations-that-defined-2013-4151578|archive-date=30 December 2013|access-date=30 December 2013|publisher=Spear's}}</ref> Rowling and 12 other writers composed short pieces in 2008 to be sold to benefit Dyslexia Action and English [[PEN International|PEN]]. Rowling's contribution was an 800-word [[Harry Potter prequel|''Harry Potter'' prequel]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Rachel|date=29 May 2008|title=Rowling pens Potter prequel for charities|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/may/29/harrypotter.jkjoannekathleenrowling|url-status=live|access-date=5 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714103208/http://books.guardian.co.uk/harrypotter/story/0,,2282533,00.html|archive-date=14 July 2008}}</ref>{{efn|The original ''Harry Potter'' prequel manuscript was stolen in 2017.<ref name="PrequelStolen">{{cite news|date=12 May 2017|title=Harry Potter prequel stolen in Birmingham burglary|publisher=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-39894187|access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> }} When the revelation that Rowling wrote ''The Cuckoo's Calling'' led to an increase in sales,<ref name="Meikle-2013" /> she donated the royalties to [[ABF The Soldiers' Charity]] (formerly the Army Benevolent Fund).{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=5–6}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Battersby |first=Matilda |date=31 July 2013 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/jk-rowling-wins-substantial-donation-to-charity-from-law-firm-behind-robert-galbraith-8739299.html |title=JK Rowling wins 'substantial donation' to charity from law firm behind Robert Galbraith confidentiality leak |work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref>

== Views ==
Rowling was actively engaged on the internet before author webpages were common,{{sfn|Salter|Stanfill|2020|pp=41–42}} and used Twitter to reach her ''Harry Potter'' fans and followers.{{sfn|Schwirblat|Freberg|Freberg|2022|p=367}}{{sfn|Salter|Stanfill|2020|p=43}}<ref>{{cite news |title= J.K. Rowling hits back at Putin after he likened Russia to her in rant against cancel culture |first1=Arnaud |last1=Siad |first2=Nathan |last2=Hodge |first3=Toyin |last3= Owoseje |date= 25 March 2022|url= https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/25/world/jk-rowling-putin-intl-scli-gbr/index.html |publisher= [[CNN]] |access-date= 27 March 2022}}</ref> She often uses sarcasm in [[Twitter|tweet]]s about her political opinions, sometimes generating controversy.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=7}}{{sfn|Salter|Stanfill|2020|p=58}}

=== Politics ===
{{Main|Political views of J. K. Rowling}}
{{See also|Politics of Harry Potter{{!}}Politics of ''Harry Potter''}}
In 2008, Rowling donated £1&nbsp;million to the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]], endorsed the Labour prime minister [[Gordon Brown]] over his [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] challenger [[David Cameron]], and commended Labour's policies on child poverty.<ref>{{cite news|title=Harry Potter author JK Rowling gives £1&nbsp;million to Labour|first=Ben|last=Leach|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/3021309/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-gives-1-million-to-Labour.html|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=13 June 2020|date=20 September 2008 |url-access=registration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920115952/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/3021309/Harry-Potter-author-JK-Rowling-gives-1-million-to-Labour.html|archive-date=20 September 2008}}</ref> In June 2024, she wrote that she had a "poor opinion" of [[Keir Starmer]] and that it would be hard for her to vote for Labour due to their position on transgender rights, which she claims comes at the expense of women.<ref>{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Wheeler |title=JK Rowling accuses Labour of abandoning women|date=22 June 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cndd65k06x8o |access-date=24 July 2024 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

In her "Single mother's manifesto" published in ''[[The Times]]'' in 2010, Rowling criticised the prime minister David Cameron's plan to offer married couples an annual tax credit. She thought that the proposal discriminated against single parents, whose interests the Conservative Party failed to consider.{{sfn|Richards|2017|pp=316–317}} Rowling opposed the [[2014 Scottish independence referendum]], and donated £1&nbsp;million to the [[Better Together (campaign)|Better Together]] anti-independence campaign.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Carrell|first1=Severin|date=11 June 2014|title=JK Rowling donates £1m to Scotland's anti-independence campaign|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/11/jk-rowling-donates-scotland-anti-independence-campaign|url-status=live|access-date=11 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611101447/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/11/jk-rowling-donates-scotland-anti-independence-campaign|archive-date=11 June 2014}}</ref> She campaigned for the UK to stay in the [[European Union]] in the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum]]. She defined herself as an internationalist, "the mongrel product of this European continent",{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=6}} and expressed concern that "racists and bigots" were directing parts of the Leave campaign.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/eu-referendum-brexit-remain-who-do-celebrities-support-david-beckham-jk-rowling-a7094751.html|title=People's vote: Steve Coogan, Patrick Stewart and Delia Smith among famous faces marching for second Brexit referendum|work=[[The Independent]]|last=O'Connor|first=Roisin|date=23 March 2019|access-date=13 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027024833/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/eu-referendum-brexit-remain-who-do-celebrities-support-david-beckham-jk-rowling-a7094751.html|archive-date=27 October 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

She opposed Israeli prime minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]], but refused to support a [[Boycotts of Israel|cultural boycott of Israel]] in 2015, believing that depriving Israel of shared culture would not dislodge him.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Flood|first=Alison|date=27 October 2015|title=JK Rowling explains refusal to join cultural boycott of Israel|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/27/jk-rowling-explains-refusal-to-join-cultural-boycott-of-israel|access-date=6 January 2022|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> In 2015, Rowling joined 150 others in signing a letter published in ''The Guardian'' in favour of cultural engagement with Israel.<ref>{{cite news|title=Israel needs cultural bridges, not boycotts – letter from JK Rowling, Simon Schama and others|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/22/israel-needs-cultural-bridges-not-boycotts-letter-from-jk-rowling-simon-schama-and-others|access-date=23 October 2015|date=22 October 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022235926/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/22/israel-needs-cultural-bridges-not-boycotts-letter-from-jk-rowling-simon-schama-and-others|archive-date=22 October 2015}}</ref>

=== Press ===
Rowling has a difficult relationship with the press and has tried to influence the type of coverage she receives.{{Sfn|Salter|Stanfill|2020|p=48}} She described herself in 2003 as "too thin-skinned".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Treneman|first1=Ann|date=20 June 2003|title=I'm not writing for the money: It's for me and out of loyalty to fans|work=[[The Times]]|id={{ProQuest|318891545}}; {{Gale|IF0501604890}}}}</ref> As of 2011, she had taken more than 50&nbsp;actions against the press.<ref>{{cite news|title=Leveson inquiry: JK Rowling and Sienna Miller give evidence|first1=Lisa|last1=O'Carroll|first2=Josh|last2=Halliday|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/nov/24/leveson-inquiry-jk-rowling-sienna-miller-live|access-date=22 September 2012|date=24 November 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810190349/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/nov/24/leveson-inquiry-jk-rowling-sienna-miller-live|archive-date=10 August 2014}}</ref> Rowling dislikes the British tabloid the ''[[Daily Mail]]'',<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lockerbie|first1=Catherine|title=All aboard the Hogwarts express|date=11 July 2000|page=2|work=[[The Scotsman]]|id={{ProQuest|326828580}}}}</ref> which she successfully sued in 2014 for libel about her time as a single mother.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Daily Mail pays damages to JK Rowling|publisher=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27312080|date=7 May 2014|access-date=24 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318014908/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27312080|archive-date=18 March 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Leveson Inquiry]] into the British press named Rowling as a "core participant" in 2011. She was one of many celebrities alleged to have been victims of [[phone hacking]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Leveson phone-hacking inquiry: JK Rowling among 'core participants'|first=Lisa|last=O'Carroll|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/sep/14/leveson-phone-hacking-inquiry-jk-rowling|access-date=24 September 2011|date=14 September 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604135926/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/sep/14/leveson-phone-hacking-inquiry-jk-rowling|archive-date=4 June 2014}}</ref> The following year she criticised Cameron's decision not to implement all the inquiry's recommendations and supported the Hacked Off campaign, pushing for stricter media reform.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith-Spark |first1=Laura |title=Author J.K. Rowling feels 'duped' by Cameron over hacking inquiry |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/12/01/world/europe/uk-rowling-hacking-inquiry/index.html |access-date=23 July 2024 |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=1 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="Rowling-2012">{{cite news|title=I feel duped and angry at David Cameron's reaction to Leveson|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/30/jk-rowling-duped-angry-david-cameron-leveson|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=3 December 2012|first=JK|last=Rowling|date=30 November 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913014433/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/30/jk-rowling-duped-angry-david-cameron-leveson|archive-date=13 September 2013}}</ref>

=== Transgender people ===
{{Main|Political views of J. K. Rowling#Transgender people}}
<!-- Paragraph 1: Explain what she believes. (Per talk, #Comments on 13 June version - 17:38, 13 June 2025 (UTC)) -->
Rowling is opposed to legislation that would allow [[transgender]] people to legally [[Gender self-identification|self-identify their gender]] without first receiving a medical diagnosis.<ref name="Milne-2020" /><ref name="Brooks-2020">{{Cite news|last=Brooks|first=Libby|date=11 June 2020|title=Why is JK Rowling speaking out now on sex and gender debate? |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jun/11/why-is-jk-rowling-speaking-out-now-on-sex-and-gender-debate|access-date=14 January 2022 |work=[[The Guardian]] |quote="She felt compelled to write about after reading of the Scottish government's latest progress towards changing gender recognition laws."}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=J.K. Rowling's 'transphobia' tweet row spotlights a fight between equality campaigners and radical feminists |first1=Ivana |last1=Kottasová |first2=Scottie |last2=Andrew |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=20 December 2019|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/20/uk/jk-rowling-transgender-explainer-intl-gbr/index.html |quote="Forstater, a tax expert, lost an employment tribunal claim against her former employer following comments on Twitter criticizing UK government plans to allow people to self-identify their gender"|access-date=5 May 2024}}</ref> She rejects the view that gender identity is different from birth sex, and that it should take priority in equalities law.<ref name="Brooks-2020" /> Her view is that it would be unsafe to allow "any man who believes or feels he's a woman" into bathrooms, changing rooms,<ref name="Shirbon2020">{{cite news |last1=Shirbon |first1=Estelle |title=J.K. Rowling reveals past abuse and defends right to speak on trans issues |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-rowling/j-k-rowling-reveals-past-abuse-and-defends-right-to-speak-on-trans-issues-idUSKBN23H2XI |publisher=[[Reuters]] |date=10 June 2020 |access-date=13 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611200348/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-rowling/j-k-rowling-reveals-past-abuse-and-defends-right-to-speak-on-trans-issues-idUSKBN23H2XI |archive-date=11 June 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Garrand |first1=Danielle |title=J.K. Rowling defends herself after accusations of making 'anti-trans' comments on Twitter |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/j-k-rowling-defends-anti-trans-comments-twitter/ |access-date=16 September 2023 |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=11 June 2020}}</ref> or what she considers "single-sex spaces".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Sandra |title=J.K. Rowling explains her gender identity views in essay amid backlash |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/10/entertainment/jk-rowling/index.html |access-date=16 September 2023 |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=10 June 2020}}</ref> These views are often described as trans-exclusionary.{{sfn|Whited|2024|loc=p. 7. "But in June 2020, Rowling's manifesto led some people to label her as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF), a term first used in 2008 that has more recently evolved as 'gender critical'."}}{{sfn|Schwirblat|Freberg|Freberg|2022|loc=pp. 367–368. "This sparked a heated discussion within the Twitter community, one side buttressing Rowling's statements, and the other espousing her as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF)"}} <!--though Rowling disputes this.<ref name="RowlingReasons2">{{cite web |date=10 June 2020 |title=J.K. Rowling writes about her reasons for speaking out on sex and gender issues |url=https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610182056/https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/ |archive-date=10 June 2020 |access-date=10 June 2020 |publisher=JK Rowling}}</ref><ref name="Dismisses2">{{cite news |date=22 February 2023 |title=JK Rowling dismisses backlash over trans comments: 'I don't care about my legacy' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64729304 |access-date=3 May 2024 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>  -->

<!-- Paragraph 2: Provide the historical background that brought this to public attention.-->
Friction over Rowling's trans-exclusionary writings surged in 2019 when she defended [[Maya Forstater]],{{sfn|Whited|2024|pp=6–8}} whose [[Forstater v Centre for Global Development Europe|employment contract was not renewed]] after she made a series of tweets questioning U.K. government plans to let people declare their own gender.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=7}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 December 2019 |title=Maya Forstater: Woman sacked over trans tweets loses tribunal |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50858919 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220004538/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50858919 |archive-date=20 December 2019 |access-date=19 December 2019 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> (The [[Employment Appeal Tribunal]] found that Forstater had been discriminated against.<ref>{{cite news |title=Maya Forstater: Woman discriminated against over trans tweets, tribunal rules |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62061929 |access-date=10 June 2025 |date=6 July 2022 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>{{efn|An appeals court ruled in 2021 that Forstater's gender-critical views were protected under the 2010 UK [[Equality Act 2010|Equality Act]] after the original employment tribunal found they were not.<ref>{{cite news |first=Doug |last=Faulkner |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-57426579 |title=Maya Forstater: woman wins tribunal appeal over transgender tweets |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=10 June 2021 |access-date=26 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Haroon |last=Siddique |date=10 June 2021 |title=Gender-critical views are a protected belief, appeal tribunal rules|url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/jun/10/gender-critical-views-protected-belief-appeal-tribunal-rules-maya-forstater |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=26 March 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Pape|2022|p=230}} In July 2022, a new tribunal decision was published (''[[Forstater v Center for Global Development Europe]]'') ruling that Forstater had suffered direct discrimination from her employer.<ref>{{cite news |title=Maya Forstater: Woman discriminated against over trans tweets, tribunal rules|date=6 July 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62061929 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=6 July 2022}}</ref>}}) Rowling wrote that transgender people should live in "peace and security" but said she opposed "forc[ing] women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/world/europe/jk-rowling-maya-forstater-transgender.html|title=J.K. Rowling criticized after tweeting support for anti-transgender researcher|last=Stack|first=Liam|date=19 December 2019|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=13 June 2020 |url-access=registration|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613012737/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/world/europe/jk-rowling-maya-forstater-transgender.html|archive-date=13 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>  According to ''Harry Potter'' scholar Lana Whited, in the next six months "Rowling herself fanned the flames as she became increasingly vocal".{{sfn|Whited|2024|p=6}}

<!-- Paragraph 3: Explain how people reacted to her view -->
Rowling has opposed proposed gender self-recognition law reforms{{efn|The laws and proposed changes are the UK [[Gender Recognition Act 2004]] and the Scotland [[Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill|Gender Recognition Reform Bill]]; related also are the UK [[Equality Act 2010]]{{sfn|Pedersen|2022|loc=Abstract}}{{sfn|Suissa|Sullivan|2021|pp=66–69}}{{sfn|Duggan|2021|loc=PDF pp. 14–15 (160–161)}} and the Scotland [[Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018|Gender Representation on Public Boards Act of 2018]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Watson |first1=Jeremy |title=JK Rowling donates £70k for legal challenge on defining a woman |date=18 February 2024 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/jk-rowling-donates-70k-for-legal-challenge-on-defining-a-woman-73tkvwq0b |work=[[The Times]] |access-date=5 May 2024|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240217200104/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/jk-rowling-donates-70k-for-legal-challenge-on-defining-a-woman-73tkvwq0b |archive-date=17 February 2024 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref>}} in the UK that would make it easier for trans people to change their legal gender.{{sfn|Whited|2024|p=7}}<ref>{{cite news |date=6 October 2022 |title=JK Rowling backs protest over Scottish gender bill |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-63162533 |access-date=5 May 2024 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> She also supported trans-exclusionary campaign group [[For Women Scotland]] in the landmark UK Supreme Court case ''[[For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Caroline |date=18 April 2025 |title=JK Rowling's journey from Harry Potter creator to gender-critical campaigner |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/apr/18/jk-rowling-harry-potter-gender-critical-campaigner |access-date=10 June 2025 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> According to media scholar Jennifer Duggan, Rowling has suggested on social media that children and [[cisgender]] women are threatened by trans women and trans-positive messages.{{sfn|Duggan|2021|p=161}} Responding to an online op-ed that used the words ''[[people who menstruate]]'', Rowling mocked the phrase<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gross |first=Jenny |date=7 June 2020 |title=Daniel Radcliffe criticizes J.K. Rowling's anti-transgender tweets |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/arts/Jk-Rowling-controversy.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607221400/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/07/arts/Jk-Rowling-controversy.html |archive-date=7 June 2020 |access-date=6 January 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Whited|2024|p=6}} and tweeted that [[women's rights]] and "lived reality" would be "erased" if "sex isn't real".{{sfn|Duggan|2021|pp=14–15}}{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=7}} Following the [[Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021|strengthening of a hate crime law in Scotland]] in April 2024, she tweeted a list of trans women, writing that they are "men, every last one of them" and challenging the police to arrest her.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brooks |first1=Libby |date=3 April 2024 |title=JK Rowling's posts on X will not be recorded as non-crime hate incident |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/03/jk-rowling-comments-scotland-non-crime-hate-incident |access-date=3 May 2024 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> In 2024, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' wrote that Rowling had "made her campaign against trans identity the central focus of her online persona".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vary |first1=Adam B. |date=24 November 2024 |title=HBO says 'Harry Potter' series will 'benefit' from J.K. Rowling's involvement: she 'has the right to express her personal views' |url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/harry-potter-hbo-series-jk-rowling-transphobia-1236215642/ |access-date=14 January 2025 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

<!-- Paragraph 4: Provide her response-->
Rowling denies that her views are transphobic.<ref name="RowlingReasons2">{{cite web |date=10 June 2020 |title=J.K. Rowling writes about her reasons for speaking out on sex and gender issues |url=https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610182056/https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/ |archive-date=10 June 2020 |access-date=10 June 2020 |publisher=JK Rowling}}</ref><ref name="Dismisses2">{{cite news |date=22 February 2023 |title=JK Rowling dismisses backlash over trans comments: 'I don't care about my legacy' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64729304 |access-date=3 May 2024 |publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> Rowling's public expression of her views has prompted declarations of [[Transgender rights movement|support for transgender people]] from the literary,<ref>UK, US, Canada, Ireland: {{cite news |last=Flood |first=Alison |date=9 October 2020|title=Stephen King, Margaret Atwood and Roxane Gay champion trans rights in open letter|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/oct/09/stephen-king-margaret-atwood-roxane-gay-champion-trans-rights-open-letter-jk-rowling |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=2 April 2022}}</ref> music,<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Rowley |first=Glenn |title=Artists fire back at J.K. Rowling's anti-trans remarks, share messages in support of the community|url=https://www.billboard.com/culture/pride/artists-fire-back-jk-rowling-anti-trans-remarks-9400386/|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=11 June 2020 |access-date=7 April 2022}}</ref> theme park, and video gaming sectors<ref>
* [[Universal Destinations & Experiences]], [[Warner Bros.]] and [[Scholastic Corporation]]: {{cite news |last1=Siegel |first1=Tatiana |last2=Abramovitch |first2=Seth |date=10 June 2020 |title=Universal Parks responds to J.K. Rowling tweets: 'Our core values include diversity, inclusion and respect' |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/universal-parks-responds-jk-rowling-tweets-core-values-include-diversity-inclusion-respect-1297845/ |access-date=3 April 2022|ref=none}}
* [[Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment]] president: {{cite news |last=Skrebels |first=Joe |title=WB Interactive president responds to ongoing debate over supporting JK Rowling |date=1 October 2020 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/wb-interactive-president-responds-to-ongoing-debate-over-supporting-jk-rowling |work=[[IGN]] |access-date=2 April 2022|ref=none}}</ref> as well as fuelling debates on [[freedom of speech]]{{sfn|Pape|2022|pp=229–230}}<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mukhopadhyay |first=Ankita |date=22 December 2020 |title=BBC nominates J.K.Rowling's controversial essay of trans rights for award |url=https://www.dw.com/en/bbc-nominates-jk-rowlings-controversial-essay-on-trans-rights-for-award/a-56014673 |access-date=22 December 2020 |website=[[DW News]]}}</ref> and [[cancel culture]].<ref name="Craig-2025" />{{sfn|Schwirblat|Freberg|Freberg|2022|pp=367–369}}{{sfn|Lai|2023|pp=155, 166–168}} She has been the target of widespread condemnation for her comments,{{sfn|Duggan|2021|loc=PDF pp. 14–15 (160–161)}}{{sfn|Schwirblat|Freberg|Freberg|2022|pp=367–369}}{{sfn|Pape|2022|pp=229–230, 238}} with negative reactions including insults and death threats.{{sfn|Whited|2024|p=9}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=Burnell|first=Paul|date=4 June 2024|title=Internet troll threatened to kill JK Rowling and MP|publisher=[[BBC News]]|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c044vevjyd7o |access-date=9 June 2024}}</ref> Criticism came from ''Harry Potter'' fansites, LGBT charities, leading actors of the Wizarding World,{{sfn|Henderson|2022|p=224}}<ref>{{Cite web|last=Petter|first=Olivia|date=17 September 2020|title=Mermaids writes open letter to JK Rowling following her recent comments on trans people|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/mermaids-jk-rowling-transphobia-transgender-sexual-abuse-domestic-letter-a9565176.html|access-date=26 March 2022|work=[[The Independent]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615235531/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/mermaids-jk-rowling-transphobia-transgender-sexual-abuse-domestic-letter-a9565176.html |archive-date=15 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/long-reads/2021/11/the-battle-for-stonewall-the-lgbt-charity-and-the-uks-gender-wars |title=The battle for Stonewall: the LGBT charity and the UK's gender wars |work=[[New Statesman]]|first=Gaby |last=Hinsliff|date=3 November 2021 |access-date=24 November 2021}}</ref> and [[Human Rights Campaign]].<ref name="Milne-2020">{{cite web |last1=Milne |first1=Amber |last2=Savage |first2=Rachel |date=11 June 2020 |title=Explainer: J. K. Rowling and trans women in single-sex spaces: what's the furore? |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-lgbt-rowling-explainer-trfn-idUSKBN23I3AI |access-date=6 April 2021 |quote="Rowling is unhappy that Scotland plans to relax the law so that trans people can change their birth certificates without having to provide a medical diagnosis."|publisher=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> After [[Kerry Kennedy]] expressed "profound disappointment" in her views, Rowling returned the [[Ripple of Hope Award]] given to her by the [[Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights]] organisation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Flood|first=Alison |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/28/jk-rowling-robert-f-kennedy-human-rights-award-trans-views|title=JK Rowling returns human rights award to group that denounces her trans views |work=[[The Guardian]]|date=28 August 2020|access-date=28 August 2020}}</ref>

During her advocacy in 2022 against Scottish parliament's [[Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill|bill to simplify changing one's legal gender]],<ref>{{Cite news |first=Severin |last=Carrell|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/dec/12/jk-rowling-launches-support-centre-for-female-victims-of-sexual-violence |title=JK Rowling launches support centre for female victims of sexual violence |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=12 December 2022 |access-date=14 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212165212/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/dec/12/jk-rowling-launches-support-centre-for-female-victims-of-sexual-violence|archive-date=12 December 2022}}</ref> Rowling founded [[Beira's Place]] with her own funds, a women-only rape help centre that provides free support services to survivors of sexual violence.<ref name="RapeHelp">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-63943766 |title=JK Rowling funds women-only rape help centre in Edinburgh |work=[[BBC News]] |date=12 December 2022|access-date=14 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McCool |first1=Mary |last2=Gordon |first2=Lorna |title=Rape centre worker wins tribunal over gender-critical beliefs |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1ee39wn30xo |website=[[BBC Scotland News]] |access-date=24 August 2025 |date=20 May 2024 |quote=Ms Adams has since gone on to work for Beira's Place - a women-only support service for victims of sexual violence, funded by JK Rowling.}}</ref> The centre does not serve trans women.<ref>{{cite news |last=Sanderson |first=Ginny |title=JK Rowling launches 'woman-only' sexual violence support service in Edinburgh |work=[[Edinburgh Evening News]] |date=13 December 2022 |url=https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/jk-rowling-opens-beiras-place-woman-only-sexual-violence-support-service-in-edinburgh-3950311 |access-date=23 July 2024}}</ref> Rowling has donated to the group [[For Women Scotland]], which brought legal challenges leading to the UK Supreme Court case ''[[For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers]]''.<ref>{{cite news|first=Holly|last=Evans|url=https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/home-news/uk-supreme-court-transgender-women-jk-rowling-b2734820.html|work=[[The Independent]]|title=What does the UK Supreme Court ruling mean for transgender women?|date=17 April 2025|access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Annabelle|last= Timsit|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/04/16/woman-definition-biological-sex-transgender-uk-supreme-court/|newspaper= [[The Washington Post]]|title= U.K. Supreme Court defines 'woman' by biology under equality law|date= 16 April 2025|access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref> In 2025, she opened the J.K. Rowling Women's Fund, which supports groups advocating for [[Gender-critical feminism#Sex-based rights|"sex-based rights"]] for women; in describing the group, NBC says that while the fund makes no mention of trans people directly, this terminology is frequently used by "proponents of efforts to restrict trans rights".<ref>{{cite news|first=Jo|last=Yurcaba|date=26 June 2025|title=San Francisco bookstore stops selling J.K. Rowling titles due to 'Harry Potter' author's anti-trans views|work=NBC News|access-date=1 July 2025|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/san-francisco-bookstore-stops-selling-jk-rowling-titles-due-harry-pott-rcna215255}}</ref>

Whited wrote in 2024 that Rowling's sometimes "flippant" and "simplistic understanding of gender identity" had left some transgender people feeling betrayed and permanently changed her "relationship not only with fans, readers, and scholars&nbsp;... but also with her works themselves".{{sfn|Whited|2024|pp=6–7, 8–9}}

== Awards and honours ==
{{main|List of awards and nominations received by J. K. Rowling}}
[[File:Jk-rowling-crop.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Rowling receiving an [[honorary doctorate]] from the [[University of Aberdeen]], 2006]]
Rowling's ''[[Harry Potter]]'' series has won awards for general literature, children's literature, and [[speculative fiction]]. It has earned multiple [[British Book Awards]], beginning with the [[National Book Awards Children's Book of the Year|Children's Book of the Year]] for the first two volumes, ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone|Philosopher's Stone]]'' and ''[[Chamber of Secrets]]''.{{sfn|Nel|2001|pp=72–73}} The third novel, ''[[Prisoner of Azkaban]]'', was nominated for an adult award, the [[Whitbread Book of the Year]], where it competed against the [[Nobel Prize]] laureate [[Seamus Heaney]]'s [[Beowulf: A New Verse Translation|translation of ''Beowulf'']]. The award body gave Rowling the children's prize instead (worth half the cash amount), which some scholars felt exemplified a literary prejudice against children's books.{{sfn|Whited|2002|pp=6–7}}{{sfn|Nel|2001|p=59}} She won the [[World Science Fiction Convention]]'s [[Hugo Award]] for the fourth book, ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire|Goblet of Fire]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|date=26 July 2007|title=2001 Hugo Awards|url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-history/2001-hugo-awards/|access-date=8 January 2022|publisher=[[The Hugo Awards]]}}</ref> and the British Book Awards' adult prize – the Book of the Year – for the sixth novel, ''[[Half-Blood Prince]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/arts/movies/arts-briefly.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title=Arts, briefly |last=Van Gelder |first=Lawrence |date=31 March 2006 |access-date=8 January 2022}}</ref>

Rowling was appointed [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the [[2000 Birthday Honours]] for services to children's literature,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/793844.stm |title=Caine heads birthday honours list |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215125039/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/793844.stm |archive-date=15 February 2009 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=17 June 2000 |url-status=live |access-date=11 January 2022}}</ref> and three years later received Spain's [[Princess of Asturias Awards#Prince or Princess of Asturias Award for Concord|Prince of Asturias Award for Concord]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Potter Author Wins Spanish Honor |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/potter-author-wins-spanish-honor/ |date=September 23, 2003 |access-date=September 29, 2025 |agency=Associated Press |via=CBS News}}</ref> Following the conclusion of the ''Harry Potter'' series, she won the Outstanding Achievement Prize at the 2008 British Book Awards.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=6–7}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/apr/10/galaxyawards.awardsandprizes |work=[[The Guardian]] |title=Another honour for JK Rowling |first=Lindesay |last=Irvine |date=10 April 2008 |access-date=8 January 2022}}</ref> The next year, she was awarded {{lang|fr|[[Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur]]|italics=no}} by the French president [[Nicolas Sarkozy]],{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=6–7}} and leading magazine editors named her the "Most Influential Woman in the UK" in 2010.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pearse|first=Damien|date=11 October 2010|title=Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling named Most Influential Woman in the UK|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/11/harry-potter-jkrowling-influential-woman|url-status=live|access-date=11 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025163115/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/11/harry-potter-jkrowling-influential-woman|archive-date=25 October 2013}}</ref> In the [[2017 Birthday Honours]], Rowling was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour]] (CH) for services to literature and philanthropy.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=61962|supp=1|page=B25|date=17 June 2017}}</ref>

Many academic institutions have bestowed honorary degrees on Rowling,{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=6–7}} including her [[alma mater]], the [[University of Exeter]],<ref>{{cite news|title=J K Rowling given honorary degree at her alma mater|last=Pook|first=Sally|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1348603/J-K-Rowling-given-honorary-degree-at-her-alma-mater.html|date=15 July 2000|access-date=13 June 2020|url-access=registration|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531003402/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1348603/J-K-Rowling-given-honorary-degree-at-her-alma-mater.html|archive-date=31 May 2010}}</ref> and [[Harvard University]], where she spoke at the 2008 commencement ceremony.<ref name="Rowling-2008a" /> In 2002, Rowling was elected as a [[Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature]] (FRSL)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://rsliterature.org/fellows/j-k-rowling/ |title=RSL Fellows: J.K. Rowling |work=[[Royal Society of Literature]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809183610/https://rsliterature.org/fellow/j-k-rowling-3/ |archive-date=9 August 2019 |accessdate=9 January 2022}}</ref> and awarded as an [[Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh]] (HonFRSE).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rse.org.uk/fellow/joanne-rowling/|title=Dr Joanne Kathleen Rowling CH, OBE, HonFRSE – The Royal Society of Edinburgh|publisher=[[The Royal Society of Edinburgh]]|access-date=22 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122173611/https://www.rse.org.uk/fellow/joanne-rowling/|archive-date=22 November 2018}}</ref> In 2011, she was recognised as a [[Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh]] (FRCPE).<ref>{{cite web|title=College Fellows and Members recognised in Queen's Birthday Honours|url=https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/college/college-fellows-and-members-recognised-queens-birthday-honours|date=30 June 2017|publisher=[[Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh]]|access-date=4 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002221855/https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/college/college-fellows-and-members-recognised-queens-birthday-honours|archive-date=2 October 2017}}</ref>

Rowling shared the [[British Academy Film Award]] (BAFTA) for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema with the cast and crew of the ''Harry Potter'' films in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |title=100 BAFTA moments – The ''Harry Potter'' films win the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award |url=https://www.bafta.org/heritage/features/100-bafta-moments-52-days-to-go |publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] (BAFTA) |date=18 December 2014 |access-date=23 January 2022 |archive-date=24 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124063049/https://www.bafta.org/heritage/features/100-bafta-moments-52-days-to-go |url-status=live}}</ref> Her other awards include the 2017 [[Laurence Olivier Award]] for Best New Play for ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://officiallondontheatre.com/olivier-awards/winners/olivier-winners-2017/ |title=Olivier winners 2017 |publisher=[[Society of London Theatre]] |access-date=29 June 2022}}</ref> and the 2021 British Book Awards' Crime and Thriller prize for the fifth volume of her ''[[Cormoran Strike]]'' series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/books/british-book-awards-nibbies-2021-b1846831.html|title=British Book Awards winners: from first-time writers to a teenage activist and a skincare guru|last=Waite-Taylor|first=Eva|work=[[The Independent]]|date=13 May 2021|access-date=14 May 2021}}</ref>

== Written works ==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
|+ {{sronly|Publications by J.K. Rowling}}
|-
! width="8%" scope="col"|Target/<br />type
! width="12%" scope="col"|Series/<br />description
! width="65%" scope="col"|Title
! width="12%" scope="col"|Date
! width="3%" scope="col" class="unsortable" |{{Reference heading}}
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="19" style="vertical-align:top; font-weight:normal;"| Young adult<br />fiction
!scope="row" rowspan="7" style="vertical-align:top; font-weight:normal;"|''Harry Potter'' series
||1. ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|1997-06-26}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Timeline">{{cite news |title=A Potter timeline for muggles |date=14 July 2007|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2007/07/14/a_potter_timeline_for_muggles.html |work=[[Toronto Star]] |access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=2}}
|-
||2. ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|1998-07-02}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Timeline" />{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=65}}
|-
|3. ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban]]''
|{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|1999-07-08}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Timeline" />{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=185}}
|-
|4. ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]''
|{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2000-07-08}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Timeline" />{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=251}}
|-
||5. ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2003-06-21}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Timeline" />{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=353}}
|-
||6. ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2005-07-16}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Timeline" />{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=421}}
|-
||7. ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2007-07-21}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{cite news |title=Harry Potter finale sales hit 11m |date=23 July 2007 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6912529.stm |access-date=9 January 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081128201059/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6912529.stm |archive-date=28 November 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=475}}
|-
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="9" style="text-align: center; font-weight:normal;"|''Harry Potter''–<br />related books
||''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (book)|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]'' (supplement to the ''Harry Potter'' series)
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2001-03-12}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=314}}
|-
||''[[Quidditch Through the Ages]]'' (supplement to the ''Harry Potter'' series)
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2001-03-12}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=336}}
|-
||[[Harry Potter prequel|''Harry Potter'' prequel]] (short story published in ''What's Your Story Postcard Collection'')
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2008-07-01}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="PrequelStolen" /><ref>{{cite news|last=O'Toole|first=Kevin|date=12 May 2017|title=One-of-a-kind handwritten Harry Potter prequel story stolen in burglary|publisher=ABC News10 Albany NY|url=https://www.news10.com/news/one-of-a-kind-handwritten-harry-potter-prequel-story-stolen-in-burglary/|access-date=9 January 2022|archive-date=4 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204105546/https://www.news10.com/news/one-of-a-kind-handwritten-harry-potter-prequel-story-stolen-in-burglary/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
||''[[The Tales of Beedle the Bard]]'' (supplement to the ''Harry Potter'' series)
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2008-12-04}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=530}}
|-
||''[[Harry Potter and the Cursed Child]]'' (story concept for play)
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2016-07-30}}<br />premiere
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{cite news |title=Harry Potter author speaks to the BBC ahead of Cursed Child premier|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-36934297 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=30 July 2016 |access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=694}}
|-
||''[[Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2016-09-06}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=630}}
|-
||''[[Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2016-09-06}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=631}}
|-
||''[[Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2016-09-06}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=629}}
|-
||''From the Wizarding Archive: Volumes 1 and 2''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2024-08-29}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/jk-rowling-harry-potter-from-wizarding-world-archive-audible-1236112397/ |title=J.K. Rowling's Articles About the Secrets of the Harry Potter Wizarding World to Be Available in Audio Format for First Time |last=Spangler |first=Tom |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=20 August 2024 |access-date=22 August 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240820185119/https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/jk-rowling-harry-potter-from-wizarding-world-archive-audible-1236112397/ |archive-date=20 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wizardingworld.com/news/introducing-from-the-wizarding-archive |title=From the Wizarding Archive: a curated selection of Harry Potter lore – coming soon! |publisher=[[Wizarding World Digital]] |date=10 July 2024 |access-date=22 August 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240801091057/https://www.wizardingworld.com/news/introducing-from-the-wizarding-archive |archive-date=1 August 2024}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="3" style="text-align: center; font-weight:normal;"|''Harry Potter''–<br />related original screenplays
||''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2016-11-18}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=635}}
|-
||''[[Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2018-11-16}}<br />premiere
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/life/movies/2018/11/09/fantastic-beasts-crimes-grindelwald-london-premiere/1936724002/ |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |title= 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald': On the red carpet for the Paris premiere |date=13 November 2018 |access-date=10 January 2022}}</ref>
|-
||''[[Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2022-04-15}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Crouch-2021" />
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="9" style="vertical-align:top; font-weight:normal;"| Adult<br />fiction
!scope="row" rowspan="1" style="vertical-align:top; font-weight:normal;"|
||''[[The Casual Vacancy]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2012-09-27}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=551}}
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="8" style="text-align: center; font-weight:normal;"|''Cormoran Strike'' series<br /> (as Robert Galbraith)
||1. ''[[The Cuckoo's Calling]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2013-04-18}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=574}}
|-
||2. ''[[The Silkworm]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2014-06-19}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=592}}
|-
||3. ''[[Career of Evil]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2015-10-20}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=618}}
|-
||4. ''[[Lethal White]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2018-09-18}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="LethalReveal" />
|-
||5. ''[[Troubled Blood]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2020-09-15}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{Cite news|first=Lianne |last=Kolirin|title=JK Rowling's new book sparks fresh transgender rights row|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/15/entertainment/jk-rowling-troubled-blood-book-trans-gbr-scli-intl/index.html|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=15 September 2020 |access-date=10 January 2022}}</ref>
|-
||6. ''[[The Ink Black Heart]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2022-08-30}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harrison |first=Ellie |date=30 August 2022 |title=JK Rowling's new book features woman who is killed after being accused of transphobia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/jk-rowling-ink-black-heart-transphobia-b2156085.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |access-date=30 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830210717/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/jk-rowling-ink-black-heart-transphobia-b2156085.html |archive-date=30 August 2022}}</ref>
|-
||7. ''[[The Running Grave]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2023-09-26}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Brown-2023">{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Lauren |date=27 April 2023 |title=Sphere unveils new Robert Galbraith novel The Running Grave |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/sphere-unveils-new-robert-galbraith-novel-the-running-grave |work=[[The Bookseller]] |access-date=5 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427232005/https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/sphere-unveils-new-robert-galbraith-novel-the-running-grave |archive-date=27 April 2023}}</ref>
|-
||8. ''[[The Hallmarked Man]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2025-09-02}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Hallmarked"/>
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-weight:normal;"| Children's<br />fiction
!scope="row" rowspan="2" style="vertical-align:top; font-weight:normal;"|
||''[[The Ickabog]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2020-11-10}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="CBC2020" />
|-
||''[[The Christmas Pig]]''
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2021-10-12}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="kirkus20211021" />
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="10" style="vertical-align:top; font-weight:normal;"| Non-fiction
!scope="row" rowspan="3" style="vertical-align:top; font-weight:normal;"| Books
||''Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and Importance of Imagination'', illustrated by Joel Holland, [[Sphere Books|Sphere]].
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2015-04-14}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|pp=609–611}}
|-
||''A Love Letter to Europe: an Outpouring of Love and Sadness from our Writers, Thinkers and Artists'', [[Coronet Books|Coronet]] (contributor).
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2019-10-31}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chandler|first=Mark|date=23 September 2019|title=Coronet to release Love Letter to Europe on Brexit deadline day|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/coronet-release-love-letter-europe-brexit-deadline-day-1086231|access-date=6 January 2022|work=[[The Bookseller]]}}</ref>
|-
||''[[The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht]]'', [[Constable & Robinson|Constable]] (Contributor).
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2024-05-30}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{Cite news|last=Brown|first=Lauren|date=17 May 2024|title=Constable to publish essays on Scottish women's campaign featuring J K Rowling|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/constable-to-publish-essays-on-scottish-womens-campaign-featuring-j-k-rowling|access-date=9 May 2024|work=[[The Bookseller]]}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="7" style="vertical-align:top; font-weight:normal;"| Articles
||"The first it girl: J. K. Rowling reviews ''Decca: the Letters by Jessica Mitford''". Sussman, Peter Y., editor. ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''.
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2006-11-26}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Parker-2012" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Rowling |first=J.K. |title=The first it girl: J. K. Rowling reviews ''Decca: the Letters by Jessica Mitford''|date=26 November 2006 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3656769/The-first-It-Girl.html |access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref>
|-
||"The fringe benefits of failure, and the importance of imagination". ''[[Harvard Magazine]]''.
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2008-06-05}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Rowling-2008a">{{cite news |last=Rowling |first=J.K. |title=The fringe benefits of failure, and the importance of imagination|url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination |work=[[Harvard Magazine]] |date=5 June 2008 |access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref>
|-
||"Gordon Brown&nbsp;– the 2009 Time 100". ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine.
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2009-04-30}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Leaders & revolutionaries: Gordon Brown |first=J.K. |last=Rowling |date=30 April 2009|url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893847_1894201,00.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] magazine |access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref>
|-
||"The single mother's manifesto". ''[[The Times]]''.
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2010-04-14}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{cite news|last=Rowling|first=J. K.|date=14 April 2010|title=The single mother's manifesto|work=[[The Times]]|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/the-single-mothers-manifesto-zprmcjl7wss|url-status=live|url-access=subscription|access-date=13 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423213108/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article7096786.ece|archive-date=23 April 2010}}</ref>
|-
||"I feel duped and angry at David Cameron's reaction to Leveson". ''[[The Guardian]]''.
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2012-11-30}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Rowling-2012" />
|-
||"Isn't it time we left orphanages to fairytales?" ''[[The Guardian]]''.
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2014-12-17}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{cite news |first=J.K. |last=Rowling |title=Isn't it time we left orphanages to fairytales? |work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/17/jk-rowling-fairytale-orphanage-lumos |date=17 December 2014 |access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref>
|-
||"Labour has dismissed women like me. I'll struggle to vote for it". ''[[The Times]]''.
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2024-06-21}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref>{{cite news |first=J.K. |last=Rowling |title=Labour has dismissed women like me. I'll struggle to vote for it |work=[[The Times]]|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/jk-rowling-labour-has-dismissed-women-like-me-ill-struggle-to-vote-for-it-rrgbcrkd6 |date=21 June 2024 |access-date=27 June 2024}}</ref>
|-
!scope="row" rowspan="4" style="text-align: center; font-weight:normal;"| Book
!scope="row" rowspan="4" style="vertical-align:top; font-weight:normal;"|Foreword/<br />Introduction
||Reynolds, Kim; Cooling, Wendy, project consultants. ''Families Just Like Us: The One Parent Families Good Book Guide''. National Council for One Parent Families; Book Trust.
||2000
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|pp=669–670}}{{sfn|Nel|2005}}
|-
||McNeil, Gil; [[Sarah Jane Brown|Brown, Sarah]], editors. ''Magic''. Bloomsbury.
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2002-06-03}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|pp=671–672}}
|-
||[[Brown, Gordon]]. "Ending child poverty" in ''Moving Britain Forward. Selected Speeches 1997–2006''. Bloomsbury.
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2006-09-25}}
|style="text-align:center"|<ref name="Parker-2012" />{{sfn|Errington|2017|p=677}}
|-
||Anelli, Melissa. ''[[Harry, A History]]''. [[Pocket Books]].
||{{dts|format=dmy|abbr=on|2008-11-04}}
|style="text-align:center"|{{sfn|Errington|2017|pp=687–688}}
|}

== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; margin-right:auto; margin-right:auto"
|+ {{sronly|J. K. Rowling filmography}}
!  scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year
!  scope="col"  rowspan="2" | Title
!  scope="col"  colspan="2" | Credited as
!  scope="col"  rowspan="2" | Notes
!  scope="col"  rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | {{Reference heading}}
|-
! width=65    | Screenwriter
! width=65    | Producer
|-
|2010
| style="text-align:left" |''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1]]''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left" |Film based on ''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]]''
|rowspan="2"|<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100920005538/en/Warner-Bros.-Pictures-Worldwide-Satellite-Trailer-Debut%C2%A0Harry |title=Warner Bros. Pictures Worldwide Satellite Trailer Debut: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227092506/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100920005538/en/Warner-Bros.-Pictures-Worldwide-Satellite-Trailer-Debut%C2%A0Harry|archive-date=27 December 2010 |publisher=[[Warner Bros. Pictures]]|agency=[[Business Wire]] |date=22 September 2010 |access-date=29 September 2011}}</ref>
|-
| 2011
| style="text-align:left" |''[[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2]]''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
|2016
| style="text-align:left" |''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film)|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|rowspan="3" style="text-align:left" | Films inspired by the ''Harry Potter'' supplementary book ''[[Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (book)|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]]''
|<ref>{{cite press release|date=22 September 2010|title=Warner Bros. announces expanded creative partnership with J.K. Rowling|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130912005870/en/Warner-Bros.-Announces-Expanded-Creative-Partnership-J.K.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915102308/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130912005870/en/Warner-Bros.-Announces-Expanded-Creative-Partnership-J.K.|archive-date=15 September 2013|access-date=12 September 2013|publisher=[[Warner Bros. Pictures]]|agency=[[Business Wire]]}}</ref>
|-
|2018
|style="text-align:left" |''[[Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| <ref>{{cite press release |title=A thrilling new adventure in J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World is underway |publisher=[[Warner Bros. Pictures]] |agency=[[Business Wire]] |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170702005032/en/Thrilling-New-Adventure-J.K.-Rowling%E2%80%99s-Wizarding-World |date=3 July 2017 |access-date=23 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924002847/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170702005032/en/Thrilling-New-Adventure-J.K.-Rowling%25E2%2580%2599s-Wizarding-World |archive-date=24 September 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|2022
|style="text-align:left" |''[[Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/fantastic-beasts-3-secrets-dumbledore-release-date-1235018522/|title='Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore' sets new 2022 release date |last=Crouch |first=Aaron |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=22 September 2021 |access-date=22 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922155056/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/fantastic-beasts-3-secrets-dumbledore-release-date-1235018522/ |archive-date=22 September 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|}

=== Television ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center; margin-right:auto; margin-right:auto"
|+ {{sronly|J. K. Rowling filmography}}
!  scope="col" rowspan="2" | Year
!  scope="col"  rowspan="2" | Title
!  scope="col"  colspan="2" | Credited as
!  scope="col"  rowspan="2" | Notes
!  scope="col"  rowspan="2" class="unsortable" | {{Reference heading}}
|-
! width=65    | Voice actress
! width=65    | Executive producer
|-
|2003
| style="text-align:left" | ''[[The Simpsons]]''
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|style="text-align:left" |Voice cameo in "[[The Regina Monologues]]"
|<ref>{{cite news|last=Strachan|first=Alex|date=23 November 2003|title=It's a royal flush for Homer Simpson|page=B8|work=[[Montreal Gazette]]|id={{ProQuest|434009213}}}}</ref>
|-
|2015
| style="text-align:left" |''[[The Casual Vacancy (miniseries)|The Casual Vacancy]]''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left" |Television miniseries based on ''[[The Casual Vacancy]]''
|<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jk-rowling-hbo-bbc-team-698313|title=J.K. Rowling, HBO, BBC team for 'Casual Vacancy' miniseries|last=Goldberg|first=Lesley|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=23 April 2019|access-date=15 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924001730/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jk-rowling-hbo-bbc-team-698313|archive-date=24 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|2017–present
|style="text-align:left" |''[[Strike (TV series)|Strike]]''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|style="text-align:left" | Television series based on ''[[Cormoran Strike]]'' novels
|<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/global/holliday-grainger-jk-rowling-cormoran-strike-tv-series-1201906413/|title=Holliday Grainger to star in J.K. Rowling's 'Cormoran Strike' TV series (exclusive)|last=Barraclough|first=Leo|date=2 November 2016|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|access-date=22 November 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105223633/http://variety.com/2016/tv/global/holliday-grainger-jk-rowling-cormoran-strike-tv-series-1201906413/|archive-date=5 November 2016}}</ref>
|- 
|2027
|style="text-align:left" |''[[Harry Potter (TV series)|Harry Potter]]''
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
| style="text-align:left" | Television series based on ''Harry Potter'' novels; filming
| <ref>{{Cite web |last=Hibberd |first=James |author-link=James Hibberd (writer) |date=14 July 2025 |title=HBO's 'Harry Potter' Reveals First Costumed Photo; Casts Neville and Dudley |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/hbo-harry-potter-first-look-casting-1236313712/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250714152120/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/hbo-harry-potter-first-look-casting-1236313712/ |archive-date=14 July 2025 |access-date=14 July 2025 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref>
|}

== Notes ==
{{notelist|30em}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|24em}}

== Works cited ==
<!-- Title case on book titles, sentence case on chapter titles, journal articles, and news articles -->
'''Books'''
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last=Anatol|editor-first=Giselle Liza |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|title=Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays|date=2003|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group|Praeger Publishers]]|isbn=978-0-313-32067-5|oclc=50774592}}
** {{harvc|first=Brycchan|last=Carey|author-link=Brycchan Carey|c=Hermione and the house-elves: the literary and historical contexts of J. K. Rowling's antislavery campaign|in=Anatol |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|year=2003|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first1=Ximena|last1=Gallardo|first2=C. Jason|last2=Smith|c=Cinderfella: J. K. Rowling's wily web of gender|in=Anatol |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|year=2003|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first=Elaine|last=Ostry|c=Accepting Mudbloods: the ambivalent social vision of J. K. Rowling's fairy tales|in=Anatol |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|year=2003|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first=Julia|last=Park|c=Class and socioeconomic identity in Harry Potter's England|in=Anatol |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|year=2003|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first=Veronica L.|last=Schanoes|author-link=Veronica Schanoes|c=Cruel heroes and treacherous texts: educating the reader in moral complexity and critical reading in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books|in=Anatol |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780313320675|url-access=registration|year=2003|nb=yes}}
* {{Cite book|last=Anelli|first=Melissa|author-link=Melissa Anelli|url=https://archive.org/details/harryhistorytrue0000anel|url-access=registration|title=Harry, a History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon|year=2008|publisher=[[Pocket Books]]|isbn=978-1-4165-5495-0|oclc=209699636}}
* {{Cite book|last=Baker|first=Charles Robert|title=British Writers: Supplement XVI|publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]]; [[Gale (publisher)|Gale]]|year=2010|isbn=978-0-684-31710-6|editor-last1=Parini|editor-first1=Jay|editor-link1=Jay Parini|chapter=J. K. Rowling (1965–)|oclc=645653286}}
* {{Cite book|last=Barratt|first=Bethany|author-link=Bethany Barratt|title=The Politics of Harry Potter|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-230-60899-3|doi=10.1057/9781137016546}}
* {{Cite book|last=Beckett|first=Sandra L.|title=Crossover Fiction: Global and Historical Perspectives|date=2008|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-203-89313-5|doi=10.4324/9780203893135}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Bell |editor1-first=Christopher |title=Hermione Granger Saves the World: Essays on the Feminist Heroine of Hogwarts |year=2012 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-7137-9}}
** {{harvc|first1=Christopher|last1=Bell|first2=Julie|last2=Alexander|c=Introduction|in=Bell |year=2012|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc |first1=Helen|last1=Berents|c=Hermione Granger goes to war|in=Bell |year=2012|nb=yes}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last1=Berberich|editor-first1=Christine|title=The Bloomsbury Introduction to Popular Fiction|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|year=2015|isbn=978-1-4411-5567-2}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last1=Berndt|editor-first1=Katrin|editor-last2=Steveker|editor-first2=Lena|title=Heroism in the Harry Potter Series|date=22 April 2016|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-317-12211-1|doi=10.4324/9781315586748}}
** {{harvc|first1=Christine|last1=Berberich|c=Harry Potter and the idea of the gentleman as hero|year=2016|in1=Berndt|in2=Steveker|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first1=Lisa|last1=Hopkins|c=Harry and his peers: Rowling's web of allusions|year=2016|in1=Berndt|in2=Steveker|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first1=Kathleen|last1=McEvoy|c=Heroism at the margins|year=2016|in1=Berndt|in2=Steveker|nb=yes}}<!--
** {{harvc|first1=Maria|last1=Nikolajeva|author-link=Maria Nikolajeva|c=Adult heroism and role models in the Harry Potter novels|year=2016|in1=Berndt|in2=Steveker|nb=yes}} -->
** {{harvc|first1=Mary|last1=Pharr|c=A paradox: the Harry Potter series as both epic and postmodern|year=2016|in1=Berndt|in2=Steveker|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first1=Rita|last1=Singer|c=Harry Potter and the battle for the soul: the revival of the psychomachia in secular fiction|year=2016|in1=Berndt|in2=Steveker|nb=yes}}
* {{Cite book|last=Blake|first=Andrew|url=https://archive.org/details/irresistiblerise0000blak|url-access=registration|title=The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter|publisher=[[Verso Books]]|year=2002|isbn=1-85984-666-1|oclc=49594480}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Brummitt|first1=Cassie|last2=Sellars|first2=Kieran|title=Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans through Homoerotic Possibilities|date=1 December 2019|publisher=[[University of Iowa Press]]|isbn=978-1-60938-672-6|editor-last1=Brennan|editor-first1=Joseph|chapter='Friends? Always': queerbaiting, ambiguity, and erasure in ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child''|oclc=1104912811}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia|first=Catherine|last=Butler|title=Modern children's fantasy|author-link=Catherine Butler|editor1-last=James|editor1-first=Edward|editor1-link=Edward James (historian)|editor2-last=Mendlesohn|editor2-first=Farah|editor2-link=Farah Mendlesohn|encyclopedia=The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-521-42959-7|doi=10.1017/CCOL9780521429597}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eccleshare|first=Julia|author-link=Julia Eccleshare|url=https://archive.org/details/guidetoharrypott0000eccl/|url-access=registration|title=A Guide to the Harry Potter Novels|year=2002|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]]|isbn=978-1-84714-418-8|oclc=229341237}}
* {{cite book|last=Errington|first=Philip W.|date=2017|title=J.K. Rowling: A Bibliography|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|isbn=978-1-4742-9738-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e9AzDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Falconer|first=Rachel|title=The Crossover Novel: Contemporary Children's Fiction and Its Adult Readership|date=21 October 2008|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-203-89217-6|doi=10.4324/9780203892176}}
* {{Cite book|last=Falconer|first=Rachel|chapter=Young adult fiction and the crossover phenomenon|editor-last=Rudd|editor-first=David|title=The Routledge Companion to Children's Literature|date=2010|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-203-88985-5|doi=10.4324/9780203889855|s2cid=220952112 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Foerstel|first=Herbert N.|title=Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries|year=2002|publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]|isbn=0-313-00670-9|oclc=51782946|url=https://archive.org/details/bannedinusarefer00foer|url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book|last=Gibson|first=Marion|url=https://archive.org/details/witchcraftmythsi0000gibs|url-access=registration|title=Witchcraft Myths in American Culture|year=2007|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-415-97977-1|oclc=76261870|doi=10.4324/9780203941980 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Grenby|first=M. O.|title=Popular Children's Literature in Britain|date=5 December 2016|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-351-91004-0|editor-last=Briggs|editor-first=Julia|chapter=General introduction|doi=10.4324/9781315246437|editor-last2=Butts|editor-first2=Dennis}}
* {{Cite book|last=Groves|first=Beatrice|title=Literary Allusion in Harry Potter|date=14 June 2017|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-315-26933-7|doi=10.4324/9781315269337}}
* {{Cite book|last=Guanio-Uluru|first=Lykke|title=Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature|date=2015|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|isbn=978-1-349-56000-4|doi=10.1057/9781137469694}}
* {{cite book |last=Gunelius |first=Susan |title=Harry Potter: The Story of a Global Business Phenomenon |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-230-59410-4 |doi=10.1057/9780230594104 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=Suman|title=Re-Reading Harry Potter|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-230-21958-8|doi=10.1057/9780230279711|edition=2nd}}
* {{Cite book|last=Hahn|first=Daniel|author-link=Daniel Hahn|title=The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature|title-link=The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2015|isbn=978-0-19-174437-2|edition=2nd|oclc=921452204}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last=Heilman|editor-first=Elizabeth E.|title=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|publisher=[[Routledge]]|date=7 August 2008|isbn=978-1-135-89154-1|edition=2nd|doi=10.4324/9780203892817}}
** {{harvc|first1=Anne Hiebert|last1=Alton|c=Playing the genre game: generic fusions of the Harry Potter series|year=2008|in=Heilman|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first1=Peter|last1=Applebaum|c=The great Snape debate|encyclopedia=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|year=2008|in=Heilman|nb=yes}}<!--
** {{harvc|first1=Megan L.|last1=Birch|c=Schooling Harry Potter: teachers and learning, power and knowledge|year=2008|in=Heilman|nb=yes}} -->
** {{harvc|first1=Peter|last1=Ciaccio|c=Harry Potter and Christian theology|encyclopedia=Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter|year=2008|in=Heilman|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first1=Peter|last1=Dendle|c=Monsters, creatures, and pets at Hogwarts: animal stewardship in the world of Harry Potter|year=2008|in=Heilman|nb=yes}}
**  {{harvc|first1=Elizabeth E.|last1=Heilman|first2=Trevor|last2=Donaldson|c=From sexist to (sort-of) feminist representations of gender in the Harry Potter series|year=2008|in=Heilman|nb=yes}}
**  {{harvc|first1=Maria|last1=Nikolajeva|author-link=Maria Nikolajeva|c=Harry Potter and the secrets of children's literature|year=2008|in=Heilman|nb=yes}}
**  {{harvc|first1=Deborah J.|last1=Taub|first2=Heather L.|last2=Servaty-Seib|c=Controversial content: is Harry Potter harmful to children?|year=2008|in=Heilman|nb=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Holmes |first=Tim|title=Subediting and Production for Journalists: Print, Digital & Social |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2015|isbn=978-0-415-49200-3|doi=10.4324/9780203143544|edition=2nd}}
* {{Cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Henry|author-link=Henry Jenkins|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780814742815|url-access=registration|title=Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide|year=2006|publisher=[[New York University Press]]|isbn=0-8147-4281-5|oclc=64594290}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kirk|first=Connie Ann|author-link=Connie Ann Kirk |url=https://archive.org/details/jkrowlingbiograp0000kirk|url-access=registration|title=J.K. Rowling: A Biography|year=2003|publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]|isbn=0-313-32205-8|oclc=49991592}}
*{{cite book |editor-last=Konchar Farr |editor-first=Cecilia |title=Open at the Close: Literary Essays on Harry Potter |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-4968-3931-2<!-- |ref={{harvid|Konchar Farr|2022}}--> }}
**{{harvc|last=Henderson |first=Tolonda |date=2022 |in=Konchar Farr |c=A Coda: She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2kqx0kz.19 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv2kqx0kz.19|year=2022|nb=yes}}
* {{cite book|chapter= Chapter 7. The United Kingdom: Human Rights Act, a new bill, and the uncertain future of campus speech
|last=Lai |first=Amy T.Y.|title=In Defense of Free Speech in Universities: A Study of Three Jurisdictions.|publisher= [[University of Michigan Press]]|date= 2023|doi=10.1353/book.113334|isbn=978-0-472-90379-5|pages= 155–196}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Levy|first1=Michael|author1-link=Michael M. Levy|title=[[Children's Fantasy Literature: An Introduction]]|last2=Mendlesohn|first2=Farah|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2016|isbn=978-1-107-01814-3|author2-link=Farah Mendlesohn|doi=10.1017/CBO9781139087421}}
* {{Cite book|editor-last1=Mamary|editor-first1=Anne J. M.|title=The Alchemical Harry Potter: Essays on Transfiguration in J. K. Rowling's Novels|chapter=Introduction|date=22 December 2020|isbn=978-1-4766-8134-4|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|oclc=1155570319}}
* {{Cite book|last=McAvan|first=Em|chapter=Harry Potter and the origins of the occult|editor-last1=Hallett|editor-first1=Cynthia J.|editor-last2=Huey|editor-first2=Peggy J.|title=J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-333-69345-2}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Mendlesohn|first1=Farah|author1-link=Farah Mendlesohn|last2=James|first2=Edward|author2-link=Edward James (historian)|title=A Short History of Fantasy|publisher=Libri Publishing|year=2012|isbn=978-1-907471-66-7|oclc=857653620}}
* {{Cite book|last=Nel|first=Philip|author-link=Philip Nel |url=https://archive.org/details/jkrowlingsharryp0000nelp|url-access=registration|title=J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Novels: A Reader's Guide|year=2001|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group|Continuum]]|isbn=0-8264-5232-9|oclc=47050453}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Pember|first1=Don R.|last2=Calvert|first2=Clay|url=https://archive.org/details/massmedialaw0000pemb|title=Mass Media Law|publisher=[[McGraw-Hill Higher Education]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0-07-312685-2|oclc=70910938|url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book|last=Posner|first=Richard A.|url=https://archive.org/details/littlebookofplag00posn|title=The Little Book of Plagiarism|date=2007|publisher=[[Pantheon Books]]|isbn=978-0-375-42475-5|oclc=70823133|author-link=Richard Posner|url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book|last=Pugh|first=Tison|author-link=Tison Pugh|title=Harry Potter and Beyond: On J. K. Rowling's Fantasies and Other Fictions|publisher=[[University of South Carolina Press]]|year=2020|isbn=978-1-64336-088-1|oclc=1142046769|doi=10.2307/j.ctvs09qwv|s2cid=225791872}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Salter|first1=Anastasia|last2=Stanfill|first2=Mel|title=A Portrait of the Auteur as Fanboy: The Construction of Authorship in Transmedia Franchises|date=16 October 2020|isbn=978-1-4968-3051-7|publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]]|oclc=1178868864}}
* {{cite book |first1=Tatiana |last1=Schwirblat|first2=Karen |last2=Freberg |first3=Laura |last3=Freberg |year=2022 |chapter=Chapter 21: Cancel culture: a career vulture amongst influencers on social media |editor1-last=Lipschultz |editor1-first=Jeremy Harris |editor2-last=Freberg |editor2-first=Karen |editor3-last=Luttrell |editor3-first=Regina|title=The Emerald Handbook of Computer-Mediated Communication and Social Media |publisher=[[Emerald Publishing Limited]] |doi=10.1108/978-1-80071-597-420221021|isbn=978-1800715981}}
* {{Cite book|last=Smith|first=Sean|url=https://archive.org/details/jkrowlingbiograp0000smit_j1n9|url-access=registration|title=J.K. Rowling: A Biography|year=2002|publisher=[[Arrow Books]]|isbn=0-09-944542-5|oclc=51303518}}
* {{Cite book|last=Stableford|first=Brian M.|author-link=Brian Stableford|title=The A to Z of Fantasy Literature|publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8108-6345-3|oclc=1200815959}}
* {{Cite book|last=Striphas|first=Theodore G.|title=The Late Age of Print: Everyday Book Culture from Consumerism to Control|title-link=The Late Age of Print|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-231-14814-6|pages=[[iarchive:lateageofprintev0000stri/page/141/mode/1up|141–174]]|chapter=Harry Potter and the culture of the copy|oclc=256532755|author-link=Ted Striphas}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Sunderland|first1=Jane|title=Children's Literacy Practices and Preferences|last2=Dempster|first2=Steven|last3=Thistlethwaite|first3=Joanne|date=31 March 2016|publisher=[[Routledge]]|doi=10.4324/9781315732350|isbn=978-1317554738}}
* {{Cite book|last=Thomas|first=Ebony Elizabeth|title=The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games|publisher=[[New York University Press]]|year=2019|isbn=978-1-4798-0065-0|oclc=1104862747}}
* {{Cite book|last=Westman|first=Karin E.|chapter=Rowling, J. K.|chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195169218.001.0001/acref-9780195169218-e-0409|chapter-url-access=subscription|editor-last=Kastan|editor-first=David Scott|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2006|doi=10.1093/acref/9780195169218.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-516921-8}}
* {{Cite book|last=Westman|first=Karin E.|chapter=Blending genres and crossing audiences: and the future of literary fiction|editor-last1=Vallone|editor-first1=Lynne|editor2-last=Mickenberg|editor2-first=Julia|title=The Oxford Handbook of Children's Literature|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2011|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195379785.013.0005|isbn=978-0-19-537978-5}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytowerharryp00unse|title=The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon|publisher=[[University of Missouri Press]]|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8262-6330-8|editor-last1=Whited|editor-first1=Lana A.|oclc=56424948|url-access=registration}}
** {{harvc|first1=Terri|last1=Doughty|c=Locating Harry Potter in the 'Boys' Book' market|url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytowerharryp00unse|year=2002|in=Whited|url-access=registration|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first=Farah|last=Mendlesohn|author-link=Farah Mendlesohn|c=Crowning the king: Harry Potter and the construction of authority|url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytowerharryp00unse|year=2002|in=Whited|url-access=registration|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first=Roni|last=Natov|c=Harry Potter and the extraordinariness of the ordinary|url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytowerharryp00unse|year=2002|in=Whited|url-access=registration|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first1=Pat|last1=Pinsent|c=The education of a wizard: Harry Potter and his predecessors|url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytowerharryp00unse|year=2002|in=Whited|url-access=registration|nb=yes}}
** {{harvc|first1=Elizabeth|last1=Teare|c=Harry Potter and the technology of magic|url=https://archive.org/details/ivorytowerharryp00unse|year=2002|in=Whited|url-access=registration|nb=yes}}
* {{Cite book |chapter=A survey of the critical reception of the Harry Potter series |last=Whited |first=Lana A. |title=Critical Insights: The Harry Potter Series |editor1-last=Grimes |editor1-first=M. Katherine |editor2-last=Whited |editor2-first=Lana A. |date=2015 |publisher=[[Salem Press]] |isbn=978-1-61925-520-3 |id={{EBSCOhost|108515151|dbcode=lkh}}}}
*{{Cite book|editor-last=Whited|editor-first=Lana A.|title=The Ivory Tower, Harry Potter, and Beyond|publisher=[[University of Missouri Press]]|year=2024|isbn=978-0-8262-2300-5 |ref={{harvid|Whited (ed)|2024}} }}<!--
** {{harvc|last=Borah |first=Rebecca Sutherland |c='Accio Jo!' Woke Wizards and Generational Potter Fandom |in=Whited (ed) |year=2024 |nb=yes|ref=none}}-->
** {{harvc|last=Whited|first=Lana A.|c=Introduction |in=Whited (ed) |year=2024 |nb=yes}}
* {{Cite book|last=Zipes|first=Jack|url=https://archive.org/details/sticksstonestrou00zipe|title=Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success of Children's Literature from Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter|date=15 November 2013|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-0-203-70021-1|doi=10.4324/9780203700211|author-link=Jack Zipes|orig-date=2002|url-access=registration}}
{{refend}}

'''Journal articles'''
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Birch|first1=Chellyce|year=2016|title=Harry Potter and the Cursed Child|url=https://search.informit.org/doi/pdf/10.3316/informit.146673082180868|journal=Limina|volume=22|issue=1|pages=96–97}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Brummitt|first1=Cassie|title=Pottermore: transmedia storytelling and authorship in Harry Potter|journal=[[The Midwest Quarterly]]|volume=58|issue=1|year=2016|id={{ProQuest|1832925509}} }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Cockrell|first=Amanda|title=Harry Potter and the witch hunters: a social context for the attacks on Harry Potter|journal=The Journal of American Culture|date=February 2006|doi=10.1111/j.1542-734X.2006.00272.x|volume=29|issue=6|pages=24–30|issn=1542-7331}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Duggan|first=Jennifer|date=28 March 2021|title=Transformative readings: Harry Potter fan fiction, trans/queer reader response, and J. K. Rowling|journal=[[Children's Literature in Education]]|volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=147–168 |doi=10.1007/s10583-021-09446-9|pmid=35645426 |pmc=9132366 |s2cid=233661189 }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Eberhardt|first=Maeve|title=Gendered representations through speech: The case of the Harry Potter series|journal=[[Language and Literature]]|year=2017|volume=26|issue=3|pages=227–246|doi=10.1177/0963947017701851|s2cid=149129001}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Farmer|first=Joy|date=2001|title=The magician's niece: the kinship between J. K. Rowling and C. S. Lewis|url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol23/iss2/6/|journal=[[Mythlore]]|volume=23|issue=2|pages=53–64|jstor=26814627}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Horne|first=Jackie C.|title=Harry and the other: answering the race question in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter|journal=[[The Lion and the Unicorn (journal)|The Lion and the Unicorn]]|volume=34|number=1|year=2010|pages=76–104|doi=10.1353/uni.0.0488|s2cid=143738308|id={{ProQuest|221753179}}}}<!--
* {{Cite journal|last=Los|first=Fraser|date=2008|title=Harry Potter and the nature of death|journal=[[Alternatives Journal]]|volume=34|issue=1|pages=32–33|jstor=45033580}} -->
* {{cite journal |last1=McRobbie |first1=Angela |title=On phantasms of gender: A feminist cultural studies perspective |journal=[[European Journal of Cultural Studies]] |date=3 May 2025 |article-number=13675494251335555 |doi=10.1177/13675494251335555|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal|last1=Molin|first1=Peter C.|year=2015|title=A 'phrase too cute to do our ugliness justice': portraying 'wounded warriors' in contemporary war fiction|url=https://www.wlajournal.com/wlaarchive/27/Molin.pdf|journal=[[War, Literature & the Arts]]|volume=27|id={{ProQuest|1813553141}}|pages=1–21|access-date=14 January 2022|archive-date=5 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705162815/https://www.wlajournal.com/wlaarchive/27/Molin.pdf|url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Nel|first=Philip|author-link=Philip Nel|year=2005|title=Is there a text in this advertising campaign?: literature, marketing, and Harry Potter|journal=[[The Lion and the Unicorn (journal)|The Lion and the Unicorn]]|volume=29|issue=2|pages=236–267|doi=10.1353/uni.2005.0031|s2cid=143828096 |id={{ProQuest|221753999}}}}
* {{cite journal |first=Madeleine |last=Pape |author-link=Madeleine Pape |title=Feminism, trans justice, and speech rights: a comparative perspective |journal=[[Law and Contemporary Problems]] |pages=215–240 |url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5037&context=lcp |date=2022 |volume=85 |issue=1 |access-date=29 March 2022 }}
* {{cite journal |first=Sarah |last=Pedersen |title='They've got an absolute army of women behind them': the formation of a women's cooperative constellation in contemporary Scotland |journal=[[Scottish Affairs]] |date=2022 |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.3366/scot.2022.0394 |s2cid=246762983 |url=https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1375349 }}
* {{Cite journal|last1=Pugh|first1=Tison|author1-link=Tison Pugh|last2=Wallace|first2=David L.|title=Heteronormative heroism and queering the school story in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series|journal=[[Children's Literature Association Quarterly]]|volume=31|issue=3|date=Fall 2006|pages=260–281|doi=10.1353/chq.2006.0053|s2cid=143508785 }}
* {{Cite journal|last=Quealy-Gainer|first=Kate|date=2020|title=''The Ickabog'' by J. K. Rowling (review)|journal=[[The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books]]|volume=74|issue=5|page=231|doi=10.1353/bcc.2020.0950|s2cid=242633369 |id={{Project MUSE|776213}}}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Richards|first1=Kitty|year=2017|title=An expressive theory of tax|url=https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1470&context=cjlpp|journal=[[Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy]]|volume=27|issue=2|pages=301–355}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Schwabach|first1=Aaron|title=The ''Harry Potter Lexicon'' and the world of fandom: fan fiction, outsider works, and copyright|journal=[[University of Pittsburgh Law Review]]|volume=70|issue=3|year=2009|pages=387–434|ssrn=1274293|via=[[HeinOnline]]|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/upitt70&i=393|url-access=subscription}}<!--
* {{cite journal |last1=Steinfeld |first1=Jemimah|title=Not my turf: Helen Lewis argues that vitriol around the trans debate means only extreme voices are being heard |journal=[[Index on Censorship]] |year=2020 |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=34–35 |doi=10.1177/0306422020917609 |s2cid=216495541 |doi-access=free }} 
* {{Cite journal|last=Stojilkov|first=Andrea|date=2015|title=Life(and)death in 'Harry Potter': the immortality of love and soul|journal=Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal|volume=48|issue=2|pages=133–148 |doi=10.1353/mos.2015.0027 |jstor=44030425|s2cid=170958953 }}
-->
* {{cite journal |first1=Judith |last1=Suissa |first2=Alice |last2=Sullivan |title=The gender wars, academic freedom and education |journal=[[Journal of Philosophy of Education]] |volume=55 |issue=1 |date=February 2021 |pages=55–82 |doi=10.1111/1467-9752.12549 |s2cid=233646159 |doi-access=free |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10125585/1/Suissa_1467-9752.12549.pdf }}
<!--
* {{cite journal|last1=Taylor|first1=Anne|date=28 May 2024|title=Harry Potter and the 'Death of the Actor': reimagining fusion in cultural pragmatics |journal=American Journal of Cultural Sociology |doi=10.1057/s41290-024-00216-w }} 
-->
* {{cite journal |last=Tosenberger |first=Catherine |year=2008 |title=Homosexuality at the online Hogwarts: Harry Potter slash fanfiction |journal=[[Children's Literature (journal)|Children's Literature]] |volume=36 |pages=185–207 |doi=10.1353/chl.0.0017|s2cid=143937185 }}
{{refend}}

'''Non-English news articles'''
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite news |last=Marsick |first=Laurent |date=3 February 2023 |editor-last=Abelard |editor-first=Agathe |title='Harry Potter': comment J.K. Rowling est-elle passée de l'ombre à la lumière? |trans-title='Harry Potter': how did J.K. Rowling go from the shadows to the light? |url=https://www.rtl.fr/culture/arts-spectacles/harry-potter-comment-j-k-rowling-est-elle-passee-de-l-ombre-a-la-lumiere-7900231706 |publisher=[[RTL (French radio)|RTL]] |access-date=15 February 2023 |quote=Traduits en 84 langues, les 7 romans d'Harry Potter se sont écoulés à plus de 600 millions d'exemplaires dans le monde. |trans-quote=Translated into 84 languages, the 7 Harry Potter novels have sold more than 600 million copies worldwide. |language=fr}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links |d=Q34660 |wikt=no |commons=J. K. Rowling |b=no |n=no |q=J. K. Rowling |s=no |v=no |species=no |display=J. K. Rowling}}
* {{Official website}}
* {{british council|j-k-rowling}}
* {{ISFDB name|6304}}
* {{IMDb name|0746830}}
* {{OL author}}

{{Works by J.K. Rowling}}
{{Navboxes
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{{Harry Potter}}
{{Hugo Award Best Novel 2001–2020|state=collapsed}}
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}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowling, J. K.}}
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