When Was J.K. Rowling Born?

Joanne Rowling was born 31 July 1965, in South Gloucestershire. At the age of nine, she and her family moved to Tutshill. Later, she attended the University of Exeter, where she studied French and Classics.

She moved to Porto, Portugal to teach English after her mother died from Multiple Sclerosis in 1990. Whilst there, she had a child, and had already begun writing the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

She moved to Edinburgh in 1994 and continued her work on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This part of Rowling's life has become somewhat famous, with rumours circulating that she wrote most of the novel in cafes and that she had very little money.

After being taken on by the Christopher Little Literary agency and receiving rejections from twelve publishers, Rowling's first Harry Potter novel was published in 1997 by Bloomsbury. Not long after it's UK release, American publisher Scholastic put in an unusually large bid for the novel.

The Harry Potter series has been a huge success, and Rowling was voted the second richest female entertainer in the world by Forbes in 2006.

Her final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is due for release on 21st July 2007.