J.K. Rowling: From a Delayed Train to Hogwarts and Beyond

Few writers have had a career like J.K. Rowling's. Her seven Harry Potter novels have sold hundreds of millions of copies and led to films, a stage play and theme parks. She wrote the first of them while living on state benefits. Her later career has taken her into adult fiction, crime novels under another name and public argument about sex and gender.

An idea on a delayed train, 1990

Rowling was born in Yate, Gloucestershire, in 1965. She studied French and Classics at the University of Exeter, then worked in London, including as a researcher at Amnesty International. In 1990 a train from Manchester to London was held up for hours. During the wait she came up with the idea of a boy who did not know he was a wizard. She spent the next several years planning all seven books.

Edinburgh and the first book, 1993–1997

When her marriage in Portugal ended, Rowling moved to Edinburgh with her baby daughter. She lived on state benefits while she finished the manuscript of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Bloomsbury published it in 1997 with a modest first print run. Within a few years the series dominated bestseller lists. By 2000, Goblet of Fire came out in Britain and the United States on the same day, and midnight launch events became a habit.

The series ends, 2007

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold more than 11 million copies in its first 24 hours across several countries. It finished the story ten years after the first book. Two years earlier, Half-Blood Prince had become the fastest-selling book in history up to that point.

Robert Galbraith, 2013

After The Casual Vacancy, a novel for adults, Rowling quietly published a detective novel, The Cuckoo's Calling, under the name Robert Galbraith. The Sunday Times revealed she was the author, and sales rose sharply. The book began the Cormoran Strike series, which reached its eighth novel, The Hallmarked Man, in 2025.

A public voice, 2020

In 2020 Rowling posted a long essay on her website explaining why she speaks about sex and gender. It drew strong criticism and strong support, and she became one of the most prominent voices in that debate.