A pseudonym is a name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from his or her original or true name (orthonym).^[1] Popular pseudonyms include stage names, noms de plume (pen names), aliases, gamer identifications, anagrams, Graecisms, Latinisations, mystifications, nicknames, and assumed names (and orders) of popes and monarchs.^[2]

Pseudonyms are often used to hide an individual's real identity, as with writers' pen names, graffiti artists' tags, resistance fighters' or terrorists' noms de guerre, and computer hackers' handles. Actors, musicians, and other performers sometimes use stage names, for example, to mask their ethnic backgrounds. Employers sometimes require employees to use assigned names to help sell products; for example, a company that does business mostly in one country but locates a call center in another country may require its employees to assume names common in the former country in an effort to draw a more positive or less negative reaction from current and/or prospective customers.

In some cases, pseudonyms are adopted because they are part of a cultural or organizational tradition. This has been the case of devotional names used by members of some religious institutes, and "cadre names" used by Communist party leaders such as Trotsky and Lenin.

A pseudonym may also be employed for purely philosophical reasons when an individual feels the context and content of the exchange offers no reason, legal or otherwise, to provide their legal or given name.

A collective name or collective pseudonym is one shared by two or more persons. This is sometimes used by the co-authors of a work, such as Ellery Queen, or Bourbaki.

Etymology[link]

The term is derived from the Greek ψευδώνυμον (pseudṓnymon), literally "false name", from ψεῦδος (pseûdos), "lie, falsehood"^[3] and ὄνομα (ónoma), "name".^[4] A pseudonym is distinct from an allonym, which is the name of another actual person, which is assumed by someone in authorship of a work of art. This may occur when someone is ghostwriting a book or play, or in parody, or when using a "front" name, such as by screenwriters blacklisted in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. See also pseudepigraph, for falsely attributed authorship.

Concealment of identity[link]

Literary pen names[link]

A young George Sand

A pen name (or nom de plume) is a pseudonym adopted by authors or their publishers, often to conceal their identity. One famous example of this is Samuel Clemens' writing under the pen name Mark Twain. A pen name may be used if a writer's real name is likely to be confused with the name of another writer or notable individual, or if their real name is deemed to be unsuitable. Authors who write in fiction and non-fiction, or in different genres, may use pen names to avoid confusing their readers, as in the case of mathematician Charles Dodgson, who wrote fantasy novels under the pen name Lewis Carroll. Some authors, such as Harold Robbins, use several noms de plume.^[5]

The Brontë family used pseudonyms for their early work, so residents in local communities did not know their works related to the neighborhood people. The Brontës used their neighbours as inspiration for characters in many of their books. Anne Brontë published The Tenant of Wildfell Hall under the pseudonym Acton Bell. Charlotte Brontë published Shirley and Jane Eyre under the pseudonym Currer Bell. Emily Brontë published Wuthering Heights under Ellis Bell.

Some female authors used male pen names, in particular in the 19th century, when writing was a male-dominated profession. The reverse example is that of male romance novelists using female pen names. A well-known example of the former is Mary Ann Evans, who wrote as George Eliot. One of Evans' most acclaimed novels is Adam Bede, which was published in 1859. Another example is Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin, a 19th-century French writer who used the pen name George Sand. Jane Austen used the pseudonym "A Lady" as the author of her first novel Sense and Sensibility. Elisabeth Evermarie Sarai went by Elisheva (Hebrew for Elizabeth) Evermaire for her novel Sarai.

The authors C. L. Moore and S. E. Hinton were female authors who used abbreviated forms of their full names in order to disguise their gender and attract various types of readers, without creating expectations about the content of their work due to some readers' gender-related stereotypes. However, these names are not pseudonyms, as they are simply the initialized versions of the authors' actual names. C. L. Moore was Catherine Lucille Moore, who wrote in the 1930s male-dominated science fiction genre, and S. E. Hinton, (author of The Outsiders) is Susan Eloise Hinton. Star Trek writer D. C. Fontana (Dorothy Catherine) wrote using her abbreviated own name and also with the pseudonyms Michael Richards and J. Michael Bingham. A more recent example would be J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.

A pseudonym may also be used to hide the identity of the author, as in the case of exposé books about espionage or crime, or explicit erotic fiction. Some prolific authors adopt a pseudonym to disguise the extent of their published output, e.g., Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman. Co-authors may choose to publish under a collective pseudonym, e.g., P. J. Tracy and Perri O'Shaughnessy. Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee used the name Ellery Queen as both a pen name for their collaborative works and as the name of their main character.

A famous case in French literature was Romain Gary. Already a well-known and highly acclaimed writer, he started publishing books under the pen name Émile Ajar. He wanted to test whether his new books would be well received on their own merits and without the aid of his established reputation, and they were.

A collective pseudonym may represent an entire publishing house, or any contributor to a long-running series, especially with juvenile literature. Examples include Watty Piper, Victor Appleton, Erin Hunter, and Kamiru M. Xhan.

Another use of a pseudonym in literature is to present a story as being written by the fictional characters in the story. The series of novels known as A Series Of Unfortunate Events are written by Daniel Handler under the pen name of Lemony Snicket, a character in the series.

Aliases, fictitious business names, and dummy corporations in criminal activity[link]

Criminals may use aliases, fictitious business names, and dummy corporations (corporate shells) to hide their identity, or to impersonate other persons or entities in order to commit fraud. Aliases and fictitious business names used for dummy corporations may become so complex, that in the words of the Washington Post newspaper, "getting to the truth requires a walk down a bizarre labyrinth", and multiple government agencies may become involved to uncover the truth.^[6]

Noms de guerre[link]

In Ancien Régime France, Noms de guerre (French phrase meaning "names of war" or "war names") were adopted by new recruits (or attributed by the captain of the company) as they enlisted in the French army. These nicknames had an official character and were the predecessor of identification numbers: soldiers were identified by their first names, their family names, and their noms de guerre (e.g. Jean Amarault dit Lafidélité). These pseudonyms were usually related to the soldier's place of origin (e.g. Jean Deslandes dit Champigny, for a soldier coming from a town named Champigny), or to a particular physical or psychological trait (e.g. Antoine Bonnet dit Prettaboire, for a soldier prêt à boire, ready to drink). In 1716 “noms de guerre” were mandatory for every soldier; officers did not adopt noms de guerre as they considered them derogatory. In daily life, these aliases could replace the real family name.^[7]

Noms de guerre were later adopted by members of the French resistance during World War II for security reasons. Such pseudonyms are often adopted by military special forces soldiers, such as members of the SAS and other similar units, resistance fighters, terrorists, and guerrillas. This practice hides their identities and protects their families from reprisal; it may also be a form of dissociation from domestic life. Some well-known men who adopted noms de guerre include Carlos the Jackal, for Ilich Ramírez Sánchez; Willy Brandt, Chancellor of West Germany; and Subcomandante Marcos, the spokesman of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN).^{[citation needed]} During Lehi's underground struggle against the British in Mandatory Palestine, the organization's commander Yitzchak Shamir (later Prime Minister of Israel) adopted the nom de guerre "Michael", in honor of Ireland's Michael Collins. Revolutionaries and resistance leaders, such as Lenin, Trotsky, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan^{[citation needed]}, Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, and Josip Broz, often adopted their noms de guerre as their proper names after the struggle. George Grivas, the Greek-Cypriot EOKA militant, adopted the nom de guerre Digenis (Διγενής). In the French Foreign Legion, recruits can adopt a pseudonym to break with their past lives.

Computer users[link]

Individuals using a computer online may adopt or be required to use a form of pseudonym known as a "handle" (a term deriving from CB slang), "user name", "login name", "avatar", or, sometimes, "screen name" or "nickname". On the Internet, pseudonymous remailers utilise cryptography that achieves persistent pseudonymity, so that two-way communication can be achieved, and reputations can be established, without linking physical identities to their respective pseudonyms.^{[citation needed]} Aliasing is the use of multiple names for the same data location.

More sophisticated cryptographic systems, such as Anonymous Digital credentials, enable users to communicate pseudonymously (i.e., by identifying themselves by means of pseudonyms). In well-defined abuse cases, a designated authority may be able to revoke the pseudonyms and reveal the individuals' real identity.

Business sales[link]

People of ethnic minorities in some areas of the world are sometimes told by an employer to use a pseudonym that is common and/or acceptable in that part of the world when conducting business, as some people might prefer a person of similar ethnic origin or similar background to people of foreign background or foreign ethnicity.^[8]

Privacy[link]

People seeking privacy often use pseudonyms to make appointments and reservations.^[9] Those writing to advice columns in newspapers and magazines may use pseudonyms.^[10]

Establishment of identity[link]

The patrilineal and matrilineal practices of assigning names to offspring for the purpose of tracing ancestry or determining inheritance and other relationships may be giving way to a 21st century preference for self-assigned or quality-assigned names as replacements for birth given names.^{[citation needed]} A common practice of many indigenous peoples was to assign a clan or shamanic name to members in puberty and post-puberty rituals. It is becoming more common for modern authors and others to elect to take names better suited to their own tastes, characters, or other aspects of personal description or preference. "In most legal systems, a name assumed for a non-fraudulent purpose is a legal name and usable as the person's true name...".^{[citation needed]} This is quite distinct from, though not exclusive of, employing a pseudonym for the purpose of concealment.

Stage names[link]

Film, theatre, and related activities[link]

When used by an actor, radio disc jockey, performer, or model, a pseudonym is a stage name, professional name, or screen name. Actors who are members of a marginalized ethnic or religious group have often adopted stage names, typically changing their surname or entire name to mask their original background. For example, Chris Curtis of Deep Purple fame was christened as Christopher Crummey. Screen names are also used to create a more marketable name, as in the case of Creighton Tull Chaney, who adopted the pseudonym Lon Chaney, Jr., a reference to his famous father Lon Chaney, Sr. On the converse, Nicolas Cage adopted this stage name instead of his real name, Nicolas Kim Coppola, in order to conceal the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of famous director Francis Ford Coppola. Filmmakers the Coen brothers share credits for editing under the alias Roderick Jaynes.^[11]

Pseudonyms are also used to comply with the rules of performing arts guilds (Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Writers Guild of America, East (WGA), AFTRA, etc.), which do not allow performers to use an existing name, in order to avoid confusion. For example, these rules required film and television actor Michael Fox to add a middle initial and become Michael J. Fox, to avoid being confused with another actor named Michael Fox. This was also true of author and actress Fannie Flagg, who chose this pseudonym; her real name, Patricia Neal, being the name of another well-known actress, and British actor Stewart Granger, whose real name was James Stewart.

Some stage names are used to conceal a person's identity, such as the pseudonym Alan Smithee, which is used by directors in the Directors Guild of America (DGA) to remove their name from a film they feel was edited or modified beyond their artistic satisfaction. Actors and actresses in pornographic films use noms de porn to conceal their identity as well as to make it more outrageous and memorable (e.g., Dick Nasty). In theatre, the pseudonyms George or Georgina Spelvin, David Agnew, and Walter Plinge are used to hide the identity of a performer, usually when he or she is "doubling" (playing more than one role in the same play).

Music[link]

Musicians and singers can use pseudonyms to allow artists to collaborate with artists on other labels while avoiding the need to gain permission from their own labels, such as the artist Jerry Samuels, who made songs under Napoleon XIV. Rock singer-guitarist George Harrison, for example, played guitar on Cream's song "Badge" using a pseudonym. Another Beatle was drummer Ringo Starr, whose real name is Richard Starkey. In classical music, some record companies issued recordings under a nom de disque in the 1950s and 1960s to avoid paying royalties.^{[citation needed]} A number of popular budget LPs of piano music were released under the pseudonym Paul Procopolis. Pseudonyms are also used as stage names in heavy metal bands, such as Tracii Guns in LA Guns, Axl Rose and Slash in Guns N' Roses, Mick Mars in Motley Crue or C.C. Deville in Poison. Some of these names have additional meanings, like that of Brian Hugh Warner, more commonly known as Marilyn Manson: Marilyn coming from Marilyn Monroe and Manson from convicted serial killer Charles Manson. Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach went under the name "Coby Dick" during the Infest era. He changed back to his birth name when lovehatetragedy was released.

Elton John (whose given name was Reginald Kenneth Dwight, until it was legally changed in 1972) is notorious for his use of aliases under various writing and production credits throughout his career. Amongst the many are: Ann Orson; Lord Choc Ice; William A. Bong (a pun on "bill-a-bong", an Australian term for "pond"); Reggae Dwight, and Frank N. Stein.

For a time, the musician Prince used an unpronounceable "Love Symbol" as a pseudonym ("Prince" is his real first name and not a stage name). He also wrote the song "Sugar Walls" for Sheena Easton under the alias "Alexander Nevermind" and "Manic Monday" for the Bangles as Christopher Tracy. He also produced albums early in his career as Jamie Starr.

In 2009, British rock band Feeder briefly changed their name to Renegades so they could play a whole show featuring a setlist in which 95 percent of the songs played were from their forthcoming new album of the same name, with none of their singles included. Frontman Grant Nicholas felt that if they played as Feeder, there would be an uproar that they did not play any of the singles, so used the pseudonym as a hint. A series of small shows were played in 2010, at 250- to 1,000-capacity venues with the plan not to say who the band really are and just announce the shows as if they are a new band, Grant later hinted it was really Feeder to the fans on their website, which caused a series of rumours that suggested the band changed their name permanently, although "Some people got it straight away", but as intended got people talking.

In most cases, a hip-hop artist prefers to use a pseudonym that represents some variation of their name, personality, or interests. Prime examples include Ol' Dirty Bastard (who was known under at least six aliases), Diddy (formerly known as P. Diddy and Puff Daddy), Ludacris, Flo Rida (his name is a tribute to his home state, Florida), LL Cool J, and Chingy. Black metal artists also adopt pseudonyms, usually symbolizing dark values, such as Nocturno Culto, Gaahl, Abbath, and Silenoz. In punk and hardcore punk, singers and band members often replace their real names with "tougher"-sounding stage names, such as Sid Vicious (real name John Simon Ritchie) of the late 1970s band Sex Pistols and "Rat" of the early 1980s band The Varukers and the 2000s re-formation of Discharge. Sid Vicious, however, did not truly take his name to seem tough but rather because he was anything but Vicious (several sources have indicated that Sid himself hated this nickname). Punk rock band The Ramones also had every member take the last name of Ramone. Rob Crow of the rock band Goblin Cock chose to go by the name "Lord Phallus" during the release of the band's albums. All the members of Hollywood Undead, an American rock rap band from Los Angeles, California have pseudonyms. A similar practice occurred in hardcore with musicians taking the names of their bands, like Kevin Seconds of 7 Seconds and Ray Cappo of Youth of Today who, for a while, billed himself as Ray of Today. The Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp's pseudonym for their Back to Mine album was Emmanuel Splice.

Cultural or organizational traditions[link]

Age[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

In many cultures, people go by several different nicknames over the course of their lives, to reflect important parts of their lives. In some cases, a rite of passage or puberty marks the transition from a "milk name" to an adult name. Enrollment in school is another occasion where a child's formal or legal name would begin to be used.

Monarchies[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

In many monarchies, the sovereign is allowed to choose a regnal name by which he or she will be known. This official name may differ from his or her first name and may not even be one of his or her given names at birth.

A sovereign may choose not to use his or her first name for many reasons. Some, such as George VI of the United Kingdom (born Albert Frederick Arthur George), may wish to make a connection between their reign and that of a previous sovereign (in his case, his father, George V). Others, such as Queen Victoria (born Alexandrina Victoria of Kent), may never have been known by their original first name.

In Japan, the Emperor's personal name is never used as a regnal name: he is referred to by the name of his regnal era, and after his death his name is officially changed to that of the era. It is a severe breach of etiquette in Japan to refer to the current Emperor's personal name either in speech or in writing unless absolutely required by law. This does not apply to those outside Japan, however, which explains why Japanese and non-Japanese use different names for the Emperor. For instance, Emperor Hirohito was known within Japan as Emperor Showa.

Religion[link]

In the tradition of various Roman Catholic religious institutes, members abandon their birthname to assume a new, often unrelated, devotional name, often referring to an admired saint. For women, for example in the Society of the Helpers of the Holy Souls, this reflects the mystical marriage as bride of Christ. Newly elected popes assume a papal name. Most popes choose a name commemorating an admired saint (Benedict XVI, for example) or a predecessor or predecessors (John Paul I), or even a family member (John XXIII).

In Eastern Orthodoxy, a monk or a nun is given a saint's name by their bishop or abbot at the time of their tonsure as the new monk's or nun's first act of monastic obedience. In addition, Orthodox monks and nuns never use their last names, except for legal reasons or for disambiguation. This may also have changed to indicate their brotherhood e.g. a monk at Kykkos Monastery in Cyprus may be known as Κυκκότης.

In Buddhism, a Dharma name is given during the traditional refuge ceremony.

In Islam, new converts often accept Islamic names. Examples include Muhammad Ali, formerly Cassius Clay; Ivan Aguéli, who became Abd al-Hadi Aqhili; Cat Stevens, who became Yusuf Islam; and Yousuf Youhana, who became Mohammad Yousef.

In Sikhism, adherents adopt the last name Singh for males or Kaur for females.

It is a long standing tradition in the Western Occult tradition to assume a pseudonym or motto. For instance Alphonse Louis Constant wrote under the name Eliphas Levi, William Wynn Westcott wrote under Frater Sapere Aude, and Aleister Crowley wrote under the name Frater Perdurabo.

Some practitioners of Wicca adopt a "craft name" or "witch name" upon initiation for use within their community. This may be to create a name of their own choosing as opposed to their given name, or to provide anonymity to those who are in the "broom closet." Often a craft name will reflect their personality, interests and/or feelings.^[12]

Cadre names[link]

Within Communist parties and Trotskyist organisations, noms de guerre are usually known as "party names" or "cadre names". While the practice originated during the revolutionary years after World War I, to conceal the identity of leaders, by the 1950s and 1960s, the practice was more of a tradition than an identity-concealment strategy. Some famous Communist Party names include Lenin (Vladimir Il'ich Ulyanov); Trotsky (Lev Davidovich Bronshtein); Max (Yakov Sverdlov); Nahuel Moreno (Hugo Miguel Bressano) and Hua Guofeng (Su Zhu).

Political articles[link]

From the late-18th to early-19th centuries, it was established practice for political articles to be signed with pseudonyms. A well-known American was the pen name "Publius", used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, in writing The Federalist Papers. In his youth, Benjamin Franklin wrote a number of letters to his brother's newspaper posing as a widow under the pen name Silence Dogood. The British political writer "Junius" was never identified.

Other types[link]

Pseudonyms are also adopted for other reasons. Criminals often took on (or were given) pseudonyms, such as famed con man Jefferson R. Smith, who was known as Soapy Smith.

Comedians and others performing hoaxes often adopt aliases for their performance role. A notable instance is provided by the comedian and hoaxer Rodney Marks,^[13] who in public performances as a corporate comedian has used over one hundred different aliases indicative of the hoax features.^[14]

Mervyn's founder Mervin G. Morris was advised by an architect to spell the name of his store chain with a Y instead of an I because the signs would be more pleasing to the eye.

It is not uncommon for a pseudonym to be adopted by a racing car driver. Reasons for this may include keeping their parents or family unaware of their participation in such activities, so members of royalty (who may be otherwise prohibited from such a dangerous activity as racing) can participate, or as a way to remain in relative anonymity. Three-time F1 champion Jackie Stewart's son Paul used a pseudonym when he joined a British racing school for just this reason. Of the many instances of racing drivers assuming false names, two more are Louis Krages, who raced under the name "John Winter" to keep his mother from finding out about his "habit", and former F1 driver Jean Alesi. Alesi, born in France but of Italian descent, went by his real given name of Giovanni until teasing from classmates led him to adopting a more French first name.

Famous pseudonyms of people who were neither authors nor actors include the architect Le Corbusier (né Charles Édouard Jeanneret), and the statistician Student (né William Sealey Gosset), discoverer of Student's t-distribution in statistics (Gosset's employer prohibited publication by employees to prevent trade secrets being revealed).

When used by a radio operator, a pseudonym is called a "handle", especially in Citizens' Band radio; on the Appalachian Trail it is common to adopt or, more usually, be given by others a "trail name".

Pseudonyms should not be confused with new names that replace old ones. Some Jewish politicians adopted Hebrew family names upon making aliyah to Israel, dropping Westernized surnames that may have been in the family for generations. David Ben-Gurion, for example, was born David Grün in Poland. He adopted his Hebrew name in 1910, when he published his first article in a Zionist journal in Jerusalem. In the 1960s, black civil rights campaigner Malcolm X (né Malcolm Little) took the "X" to represent his unknown African ancestral name that was lost when his ancestors were brought to North America as slaves, and then changed his name again to Malik El-Shabazz when he converted to Islam.

See also[link]

• Heteronym
• Hypocorism
• List of Latinised names
• List of pseudonyms
• List of pseudonyms used in the American constitutional debates
• List of stage names
• Mononymous persons

Notes[link]

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (February 2012)

Sources[link]

• Peschke, Michael. 2006. International Encyclopedia of Pseudonyms. Detroit: Gale. ISBN 978-3-598-24960-0.
• Room, Adrian. 2010. Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins. 5th rev. ed. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-4373-4.

External links[link]

Look up pseudonym in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• An extensive list of pseudonyms
• A site with pseudonyms for celebrities and entertainers
• Another list of pseudonyms
• The U.S. copyright status of pseudonyms

Christina Perri
Christina Perri in an interview
Background information
Birth name	Christina Judith Perri
Born	(1986-08-19) August 19, 1986 (age 25)
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Pop rock, piano rock, alternative rock, soul
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Atlantic
Website	www.christinaperri.com

Christina Judith Perri (born August 19, 1986)^[1][2] is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Philadelphia. Her song "Jar of Hearts" charted in the United States after it was featured on the Fox television show So You Think You Can Dance in 2010. Rolling Stone named her the "Band of the Week" on October 26, 2010.^[3] On May 10, 2011, Perri's "Jar of Hearts" was featured on Glee (Season 2, Episode 20 "Prom Queen").^[4] Also, on June 27, 2011, Perri's "Jar of Hearts" was featured on Switched at Birth (Season 1, Episode 4 "Dance Amongst Daggers"). One of her songs, "A Thousand Years", has been in the Twilight saga movie Breaking Dawn.

Early life[link]

Perri grew up in Bensalem, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia) with her older brother, Nick Perri, who formerly played guitar with Shinedown, Silvertide, Perry Farrell and Matt Sorum.^[5] Her father is from Italy.^[6] She attended Archbishop Ryan High School as a member of the class of 2004.^[7] She taught herself how to play guitar as a 16-year-old by watching a videotape of Shannon Hoon from the group Blind Melon performing on VH1.^[3]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Perri moved to Los Angeles on her 21st birthday. Later that year she got married and began to produce music videos. She divorced 18 months later and moved back to Philadelphia by the end of 2009; during this time she wrote "Jar of Hearts". She moved back to Los Angeles, waitressing at the Melrose Cafe during the day and recording at night.^[3][8]

[edit] 2010–present: Lovestrong.

Perri's song "Jar of Hearts" was featured on So You Think You Can Dance during the June 30, 2010 show.^[9] It was featured in performance by Billy Bell and Kathryn McCormick.^[10] Perri's friend Keltie Colleen passed the song to show choreographer Stacey Tookey; Perri and Colleen watched the performance in the audience.^[9] Following its exposure on the show, "Jar of Hearts" sold 48,000 digital copies, debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 at #63 and reaching #28 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs.^[10] Within a month, it sold more than 100,000 copies.^[8] Then, her music video for "Jar of Hearts" landed on the VH1 top 20 music video countdown.

Shortly after, Perri made her debut on national day time and prime time television, performing the song live on the July 10, 2010 episode of The Early Show on CBS as well as the July 15, 2010 episode of So You Think You Can Dance^[8] Perri signed a deal with Atlantic Records on July 21, 2010.^[11] Roadrunner Records continue to promote "Jar of Hearts" on the radio.^[12] Perri appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on July 29, 2010 and Conan on December 7, 2010 where she played "Jar of Hearts." In addition, "Jar of Hearts" was on the show Pretty Little Liars. "Arms" was also in the ABC Family movie Teen Spirit. Perri recorded an EP named The Ocean Way Sessions that was released on November 9, 2010.^[13]

Perri singing "Distance" (left) and "Jar of Hearts" (right) at the lovestrong. tour in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Perri's debut album is titled lovestrong. and was released on May 10, 2011. It follows the release of "Arms", its lead single, released on March 15. She appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, playing her song "Arms." "Arms" was used in the August 26, 2011 episode of The Bold and the Beautiful and has also been used in TV spots for the Fall 2011 season of Investigation Discovery's show "Disappeared."

Perri's single, "A Thousand Years," appeared on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn's movie soundtrack.

On November 1, 2011 Perri appeared on ABC's Dancing With The Stars Results show to perform her song "Arms". On 13 November 2011, she also performed "Jar of Hearts" on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing results show. On February 19, she performed "Jar of Hearts" in the pre-fight buildup to Vitali Klitschko vs. Derek Chisora World Heavyweight Championship boxing contest in Munich.

On 29th January 2012, Perri performed Jar of Hearts live on UK ITV's Dancing on Ice show, with Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in a specially choreographed routine.

She will be joining Jason Mraz in his tour across continental North America in 2012. Perri also announced that she will be releasing her second studio album in Spring 2013.

On 22nd April 2012, Perri performed live on Australia's Dancing with the Stars.

Discography[link]

EP[link]

• The Ocean Way Sessions (2010)

Albums[link]

• Lovestrong (2011)

References[link]

J. K. Rowling, OBE, FRSL
Rowling at the White House Easter Egg Roll, 2010
Born	Joanne Rowling (1965-07-31) 31 July 1965 (age 46)[1] Yate, Gloucestershire, England
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	British
Education	Bachelor of Arts
Alma mater	University of Exeter
Genres	Children's literature, fantasy
Subjects	Wizards and witches
Notable work(s)	Harry Potter series
Spouse(s)	Jorge Arantes (m. 1992–95) Neil Murray (m. 2001–present)
Children	2 daughters, 1 son
Influences Harry Potter influences and analogues
www.jkrowling.com

Joanne "Jo" Rowling, ( /ˈroʊlɪŋ/) OBE, FRSL ^[2] (born 31 July 1965),^[3] known as J. K. Rowling,^[4] is a British novelist, best known as the author of the Harry Potter fantasy series. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, sold more than 400 million copies^[5] to become the best-selling book series in history^[6] and been the basis for a popular series of films, in which Rowling had overall approval on the scripts^[7] as well as maintaining creative control by serving as a producer on the final instalment.^[8] Rowling conceived the idea for the series on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990.^[9]

Rowling has led a "rags to riches" life story, in which she progressed from living on social security to multi-millionaire status within five years. As of March 2011^[update], when its latest world billionaires list was published, Forbes estimated Rowling's net worth to be US$1 billion.^[10] The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £560 million ($798 million), ranking her as the twelfth richest woman in the United Kingdom.^[11] Forbes ranked Rowling as the forty-eighth most powerful celebrity of 2007,^[12] and Time magazine named her as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fans.^[13] In October 2010, J. K. Rowling was named 'Most Influential Woman in Britain' by leading magazine editors.^[14] She has become a notable philanthropist, supporting such charities as Comic Relief, One Parent Families, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain, and Lumos (formerly the Children's High Level Group).

On 12 April 2012, Rowling announced that her new adult novel The Casual Vacancy would be published in the UK by Little, Brown & Company on 27 September 2012.^[15]

Name[link]

Although she writes under the pen name "J. K. Rowling", pronounced like rolling,^[16] her name when her first Harry Potter book was published was simply "Joanne Rowling". Anticipating that the target audience of young boys might not want to read a book written by a woman, her publishers demanded that she use two initials, rather than her full name. As she had no middle name, she chose K as the second initial of her pen name, from her paternal grandmother Kathleen Ada Bulgen Rowling.^[17][18] She calls herself "Jo" and has said, "No one ever called me 'Joanne' when I was young, unless they were angry."^[19] Following her marriage, she has sometimes used the name Joanne Murray when conducting personal business.^[20][21] During the Leveson Inquiry she gave evidence under the name of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.^[22]

Background[link]

Rowling was born to Peter James Rowling and Anne Rowling (née Volant), on 31 July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Bristol.^[23] Her mother Anne was half-French, half-Scottish. Her mother's maternal grandfather, Dr. Dugald Campbell, was born in Lamlash on the Isle of Arran.^[24] Her mother's paternal grandfather, Louis Volant, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for exceptional bravery in defending the village of Courcelles-le-Comte during the First World War.^[25]

Rowling's sister Dianne^[9] was born at their home when Rowling was 23 months old.^[23] The family moved to the nearby village Winterbourne when Rowling was four.^[26] She attended St Michael's Primary School, a school founded by abolitionist William Wilberforce and education reformer Hannah More.^[27][28] Her headmaster at St Michael's, Alfred Dunn, has been suggested as the inspiration for the Harry Potter headmaster Albus Dumbledore.^[29]

As a child, Rowling often wrote fantasy stories, which she would usually then read to her sister. She recalls that "I can still remember me telling her a story in which she fell down a rabbit hole and was fed strawberries by the rabbit family inside it. Certainly the first story I ever wrote down (when I was five or six) was about a rabbit called Rabbit. He got the measles and was visited by his friends, including a giant bee called Miss Bee."^[16] At the age of nine, Rowling moved to Church Cottage in the Gloucestershire village of Tutshill, close to Chepstow, Wales.^[23] When she was a young teenager, her great aunt, who Rowling said "taught classics and approved of a thirst for knowledge, even of a questionable kind", gave her a very old copy of Jessica Mitford's autobiography, Hons and Rebels.^[30] Mitford became Rowling's heroine, and Rowling subsequently read all of her books.^[31]

She attended secondary school at Wyedean School and College, where her mother, Anne, had worked as a technician in the Science Department.^[32] Rowling said of her adolescence, "Hermione [A bookish, know-it-all Harry Potter character] is loosely based on me. She's a caricature of me when I was eleven, which I'm not particularly proud of."^[33] Sean Harris, her best friend in the Upper Sixth owned a turquoise Ford Anglia, which she says inspired the one in her books. "Ron Weasley [Harry Potter's best friend] isn't a living portrait of Sean, but he really is very Sean-ish."^[34] Of her musical tastes of the time, she said "My favourite group in the world is The Smiths. And when I was going through a punky phase, it was The Clash."^[35] Rowling studied A Levels in English, French and German^[36] before reading for a BA in French and Classics at the University of Exeter, which she says was a "bit of a shock" as she "was expecting to be amongst lots of similar people – thinking radical thoughts." Once she made friends with "some like-minded people" she says she began to enjoy herself.^[37] After a year of study in Paris, Rowling moved to London to work as a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International.^[38]

After working at Amnesty International in London, Rowling and her then-boyfriend decided to move to Manchester.^[23] In 1990, while she was on a four-hour-delayed train trip from Manchester to London, the idea for a story of a young boy attending a school of wizardry "came fully formed" into her mind.^[39] She told The Boston Globe that "I really don't know where the idea came from. It started with Harry, then all these characters and situations came flooding into my head."^[23][39] When she had reached her Clapham Junction flat, she began to write immediately.^[23][40]

In December of that year, Rowling's mother died, after ten years suffering from multiple sclerosis.^[23] Rowling commented, "I was writing Harry Potter at the moment my mother died. I had never told her about Harry Potter."^[21] Rowling said this death heavily affected her writing^[21][41] and that she introduced much more detail about Harry's loss in the first book, because she knew about how it felt.^[42]

Rowling then moved to Porto in Portugal to teach English as a foreign language.^[9][31] While there, on 16 October 1992, she married Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes. Their child, Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes (named after Jessica Mitford), was born on 27 July 1993 in Portugal.^[43] They separated in November 1993.^[43][44] In December 1993, Rowling and her daughter moved to be near Rowling's sister in Edinburgh, Scotland.^[23]

Seven years after graduating from university, Rowling saw herself as "the biggest failure I knew."^[45] Her marriage had failed, she was jobless with a dependent child, but she described her failure as liberating:

Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy to finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. – J. K. Rowling, Harvard commencement address, 2008.^[45]

In order to teach in Scotland she would need a postgraduate certificate of education (PGCE), requiring a full-time, year-long course of study. She began this course in August 1995,^[46] after completing her first novel while having survived on social security.^[47] She wrote in many cafés, especially Nicolson's Café,^[48] wherever she could get Jessica to fall asleep.^[23][49] In a 2001 BBC interview, Rowling denied the rumour that she wrote in local cafés to escape from her unheated flat, remarking, "I am not stupid enough to rent an unheated flat in Edinburgh in midwinter. It had heating." Instead, as she stated on the American TV programme A&E Biography, one of the reasons she wrote in cafés was because taking her baby out for a walk was the best way to make her fall asleep.^[49]

[edit] Harry Potter

[edit] Harry Potter books

"The Elephant House" – one of the cafés in Edinburgh in which Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter novel.^[50]

In 1995, Rowling finished her manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on an old manual typewriter.^[51] Upon the enthusiastic response of Bryony Evens, a reader who had been asked to review the book's first three chapters, the Fulham-based Christopher Little Literary Agents agreed to represent Rowling in her quest for a publisher. The book was submitted to twelve publishing houses, all of which rejected the manuscript.^[43] A year later she was finally given the green light (and a £1500 advance) by editor Barry Cunningham from Bloomsbury, a small publishing house in London.^[43][52] The decision to publish Rowling's book apparently owes much to Alice Newton, the eight-year-old daughter of Bloomsbury's chairman, who was given the first chapter to review by her father and immediately demanded the next.^[53] Although Bloomsbury agreed to publish the book, Cunningham says that he advised Rowling to get a day job, since she had little chance of making money in children's books.^[54] Soon after, in 1997, Rowling received an £8000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council to enable her to continue writing.^[55] In early 1998, an auction was held in the United States for the rights to publish the novel, and was won by Scholastic Inc., for $105,000. In Rowling's own words, she "nearly died" when she heard the news.^[56]

In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher's Stone with an initial print run of 1,000 copies, 500 of which were distributed to libraries. Today, such copies are valued between £16,000 and £25,000.^[57] Five months later, the book won its first award, a Nestlé Smarties Book Prize. In February, the novel won the prestigious British Book Award for Children's Book of the Year, and later, the Children's Book Award. In October 1998, Scholastic published Philosopher's Stone in the US under the title of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: a change Rowling claims she now regrets and would have fought if she had been in a better position at the time.^[58] Its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in July 1998 and again Rowling won the Smarties Prize.^[59]

In December 1999, the third novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, won the Smarties Prize, making Rowling the first person to win the award three times running.^[60] She later withdrew the fourth Harry Potter novel from contention to allow other books a fair chance. In January 2000, Prisoner of Azkaban won the inaugural Whitbread Children's Book of the Year award, though it lost the Book of the Year prize to Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf.^[61]

The fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was released simultaneously in the UK and the U.S. on 8 July 2000, and broke sales records in both countries. Some 372,775 copies of the book were sold in its first day in the UK, almost equalling the number Prisoner of Azkaban sold during its first year.^[62] In the US, the book sold three million copies in its first 48 hours, smashing all literary sales records.^[62] Rowling admitted that she had had a moment of crisis while writing the novel; "Halfway through writing Four, I realised there was a serious fault with the plot ... I've had some of my blackest moments with this book ... One chapter I rewrote 13 times, though no-one who has read it can spot which one or know the pain it caused me."^[63] Rowling was named author of the year in the 2000 British Book Awards.^[64]

A wait of three years occurred between the release of Goblet of Fire and the fifth Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This gap led to press speculation that Rowling had developed writer's block, speculations she fervently denied.^[65] Rowling later admitted that writing the book was a chore. "I think Phoenix could have been shorter", she told Lev Grossman, "I knew that, and I ran out of time and energy toward the end."^[66]

The sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was released on 16 July 2005. It too broke all sales records, selling nine million copies in its first 24 hours of release.^[67] While writing, she told a fan online, "Book six has been planned for years, but before I started writing seriously I spend two months re-visiting the plan and making absolutely sure I knew what I was doing."^[68] She noted on her website that the opening chapter of book six, which features a conversation between the Minister of Magic and the British Prime Minister, had been intended as the first chapter first for Philosopher's Stone, then Chamber of Secrets then Prisoner of Azkaban.^[69] In 2006, Half-Blood Prince received the Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards.^[70]

The title of the seventh and final Harry Potter book was revealed 21 December 2006 to be Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.^[71] In February 2007 it was reported that Rowling wrote on a bust in her hotel room at the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh that she had finished the seventh book in that room on 11 January 2007.^[72] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released on 21 July 2007 (0:01 BST)^[73] and broke its predecessor's record as the fastest-selling book of all time.^[74] It sold 11 million copies in the first day of release in the United Kingdom and United States.^[74] She wrote the last chapter of the book "in something like 1990", as part of her earliest work on the entire series.^[75] During a year period when Rowling was completing the last book, she allowed herself to be filmed for a documentary which aired in Britain on ITV on 30 December 2007. It was entitled J K Rowling... A Year In The Life and showed her returning to her old Edinburgh tenement flat where she lived, and completed the first Harry Potter book.^[76] Re-visiting the flat for the first time reduced her to tears, saying it was "really where I turned my life around completely."^[76]

In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Rowling gave credit to her mother for the success of the series saying that "the books are what they are because she died...because I loved her and she died."^[77] During this period Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression, and contemplated suicide.^[78] It was the feeling of her illness which brought her the idea of Dementors, soul-sucking creatures introduced in the third book.^[79]

Harry Potter is now a global brand worth an estimated £7 billion ($15 billion),^[80] and the last four Harry Potter books have consecutively set records as the fastest-selling books in history.^[74][81] The series, totalling 4,195 pages,^[82] has been translated, in whole or in part, into 65 languages.^[83]

The Harry Potter books have also gained recognition for sparking an interest in reading among the young at a time when children were thought to be abandoning books for computers and television,^[84] although it is reported that despite the huge uptake of the books, adolescent reading has continued to decline.^[85]

[edit] Harry Potter films

In October 1998, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the first two novels for a seven-figure sum.^[86] A film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released on 16 November 2001, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on 15 November 2002.^[87] Both films were directed by Chris Columbus. 4 June 2004 saw the release of the film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was directed by another new director, Mike Newell, and released on 18 November 2005. The film of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released on 11 July 2007.^[87] David Yates directed, and Michael Goldenberg wrote the screenplay, having taken over the position from Steve Kloves. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released on 15 July 2009.^[88][89] David Yates directed again, and Kloves returned to write the script.^[90] In March 2008, Warner Bros. announced that the final instalment of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, would be filmed in two segments, with part one being released in November 2010 and part two being released in July 2011. Yates would again return to direct both films.^[91][92]

Warner Bros took considerable notice of Rowling's desires and thoughts when drafting her contract. One of her principal stipulations was the films be shot in Britain with an all-British cast, which has been adhered to strictly.^[93] In an unprecedented move, Rowling also demanded that Coca-Cola, the victor in the race to tie in their products to the film series, donate $18 million to the American charity Reading is Fundamental, as well as a number of community charity programs.^[94]

The first four, sixth and seventh films were scripted by Steve Kloves; Rowling assisted him in the writing process, ensuring that his scripts did not contradict future books in the series. She has said that she told him more about the later books than anybody else (prior to their release), but not everything.^[95] She also told Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) and Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid) certain secrets about their characters before they were revealed in the books.^[96] Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) asked her if Harry died at any point in the series; Rowling answered him by saying, "You have a death scene", thereby not explicitly answering the question.^[97] Director Steven Spielberg was approached to helm the first film, but dropped out. The press has repeatedly claimed that Rowling played a role in his departure, but Rowling stated that she has no say in who directs the films and would not have vetoed Spielberg if she had.^[98] Rowling's first choice for the director had been Monty Python member Terry Gilliam, as she is a fan of his work, but Warner Bros. wanted a more family-friendly film and chose Columbus.^[99]

Rowling had gained creative control on the films, approving all the scripts^[100] as well as acting as a producer on the final two-part instalment, Deathly Hallows.^[101]

On her website, Rowling revealed that she was considered to have a cameo in the first film as Lily Potter in the Mirror of Erised scene. Rowling, however, turned down the role, stating that she was not cut out to be an actor and, "would have messed it up somehow".^[102] The role ultimately went to Geraldine Somerville.

Rowling, producers David Heyman and David Barron, along with directors David Yates, Mike Newell and Alfonso Cuarón collected the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at the 2011 British Academy Film Awards in honour of the Harry Potter film franchise.^[103]

[edit] Life after Harry Potter

Forbes has named Rowling as the first person to become a U.S.-dollar billionaire by writing books,^[104] the second-richest female entertainer and the 1,062nd richest person in the world.^[105] When first listed as a billionaire by Forbes in 2004, Rowling disputed the calculations and said she had plenty of money, but was not a billionaire.^[106] In addition, the 2008 Sunday Times Rich List named Rowling the 144th richest person in Britain.^[11] In 2001, Rowling purchased a 19th-century estate house, Killiechassie House, on the banks of the River Tay, near Aberfeldy, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.^[107] Rowling also owns a home in Edinburgh, and a £4.5 million ($9 million) Georgian house in Kensington, West London,^[108] on a street with 24-hour security.^[109]

On 26 December 2001, Rowling married Neil Michael Murray (born 30 June 1971), an anaesthetist, in a private ceremony at her Aberfeldy home.^[110] This was a second marriage for both Rowling and Murray, as Murray had previously been married to Dr. Fiona Duncan in 1996. Murray and Duncan separated in 1999 and divorced in mid-2001. Rowling's and Murray's son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born on 24 March 2003.^[111] Shortly after Rowling began writing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince she took a break from working on the novel to care for him in his early infancy.^[112] Rowling's youngest child, daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, to whom she dedicated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was born on 23 January 2005.^[113]

Rowling is a close friend of Sarah Brown, wife of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whom she met when they collaborated on a charitable project (see below). When Brown's son Fraser was born in 2003, Rowling was one of the first to visit her in the hospital.^[114]

Rowling has received honorary degrees from St Andrews University, the University of Edinburgh, Napier University, the University of Exeter,^[115] the University of Aberdeen^[116][117] and Harvard University, for whom she spoke at the 2008 commencement ceremony.^[118] In 2009 Rowling was awarded the Légion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.^[119]

Subsequent writing[link]

In an interview with Stephen Fry in 2005, Rowling claimed that she would much prefer to write any subsequent books under a pseudonym; however, she conceded to Jeremy Paxman in 2003 that if she did, the press would probably "find out in seconds."^[120] In 2006, Rowling revealed that she had finished writing a few short stories and another children's book (a "political fairy story") about a monster, aimed at a younger audience than Harry Potter readers.^[121]

As regards the possibility of an eighth Harry Potter book, she has said, "I can't say I'll never write another book about that world just because I think, what do I know, in ten years' time I might want to return to it but I think it's unlikely."^[122] On 1 October 2010, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Rowling stated a new book on the saga might happen.^[123]

Rowling plans to write an encyclopaedia of Harry Potter's wizarding world consisting of various unpublished material and notes.^[124] Any profits from such a book would be given to charity.^[125] During a news conference at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre in 2007, Rowling, when asked how the encyclopaedia was coming along, said, "It's not coming along, and I haven't started writing it. I never said it was the next thing I'd do."^[126] At the end of 2007, Rowling said that the encyclopaedia could take up to ten years to complete, stating "There is no point in doing it unless it is amazing. The last thing I want to do is to rush something out".^[76] On 13 April 2012, following the release of her new website, Rowling confirmed that she had started work on the project and would donate all royalties to charity as she had previously planned.^[127]

In July 2007, Rowling said that she wants to dedicate "lots" of her time to her family, but is currently "sort of writing two things", one for children and the other for adults.^[128] She did not give any details about the two projects but did state that she was excited because the two book situation reminded her of writing the Philosopher's Stone, explaining how she was then writing two books until Harry took over.^[129] She stated in October 2007 that her future work was unlikely to be in the fantasy genre, explaining, "I think probably I've done my fantasy ... it would be incredibly difficult to go out and create another world that didn't in some way overlap with Harry's or maybe borrow a little too much from Harry."^[130] In November 2007, Rowling said that she was working on another book, a "half-finished book for children that I think will probably be the next thing I publish."^[131] In March 2008, Rowling confirmed that her "political fairy tale" for children was nearing completion.^[132]

In March 2008, Rowling revealed in an interview that she had returned to writing in Edinburgh cafés, intent on composing a new novel for children. "I will continue writing for children because that's what I enjoy," she told The Daily Telegraph. "I am very good at finding a suitable café; I blend into the crowd and, of course, I don't sit in the middle of the bar staring all around me."^[133]

In June 2011, Rowling announced that future Harry Potter projects, and all electronic downloads, would be concentrated in a new website, called Pottermore.^[134] The site includes 18,000 words of additional information on characters, places and objects in the Harry Potter universe.^[135] The following month, she parted company with her agent, Christopher Little, moving to a new agency founded by one of his staff, Neil Blair.^[136]

On 23 February 2012, Rowling's agency, The Blair Partnership announced on its website that Rowling was set to publish a new book targeted at adults. In a press release, Rowling noted the differences between her new project and the Potter series, saying "Although I've enjoyed writing it just as much, my next novel will be very different from the Harry Potter series." On 12 April 2012, Little, Brown & Company announced that the book was entitled The Casual Vacancy and would be released on 27 September 2012.^[137]

Philanthropy[link]

In 2000, Rowling established the Volant Charitable Trust, which uses its annual budget of £5.1 million to combat poverty and social inequality. The fund also gives to organisations that aid children, one parent families, and multiple sclerosis research.^[138] Rowling said, "I think you have a moral responsibility when you've been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently."^[128]

Anti-poverty and children's welfare[link]

Rowling, once a single parent herself, is now president of the charity Gingerbread (originally One Parent Families), having already become their first Ambassador in 2000.^[139][140] Rowling collaborated with Sarah Brown to write a book of children's stories to aid One Parent Families.^[141]

In 2001, the UK anti-poverty fundraiser Comic Relief asked three best-selling British authors – cookery writer and TV presenter Delia Smith, Bridget Jones creator Helen Fielding, and Rowling – to submit booklets related to their most famous works for publication.^[142] Rowling's two booklets, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through the Ages, are ostensibly facsimiles of books found in the Hogwarts library. Since going on sale in March 2001, the books have raised £15.7 million ($30 million) for the fund. The £10.8 million ($20 million) they have raised outside the UK have been channelled into a newly created International Fund for Children and Young People in Crisis.^[143]

In 2005, Rowling and MEP Emma Nicholson founded the Children's High Level Group (now Lumos).^[144] In January 2006, Rowling went to Bucharest to highlight the use of caged beds in mental institutions for children.^[145] To further support the CHLG, Rowling auctioned one of seven handwritten and illustrated copies of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a series of fairy tales referred to in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The book was purchased for £1.95 million by on-line bookseller Amazon.com on 13 December 2007, becoming the most expensive modern book ever sold at auction.^[146][147] Rowling commented, "This will mean so much to children in desperate need of help. It means Christmas has come early to me."^[147][148] Rowling gave away the remaining six copies to those who have a close connection with the Harry Potter books.^[147] In 2008, Rowling agreed to publish the book with the proceeds going to the Children's High Level Group.^[146] On 1 June 2010 (International Children’s Day), Lumos launched an annual initiative – Light a Birthday Candle for Lumos. To support the campaign on 1 June 2011, JK Rowling gave an interview to Redonline.co.uk

Multiple sclerosis[link]

Rowling has contributed money and support for research and treatment of multiple sclerosis, from which her mother suffered before her death in 1990. In 2006, Rowling contributed a substantial sum toward the creation of a new Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Edinburgh University, later named the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic.^[149] In 2010 she donated a further £10 million to the centre.^[150] For reasons unknown, Scotland, Rowling's country of adoption, has the highest rate of multiple sclerosis in the world.^[151] In 2003, Rowling took part in a campaign to establish a national standard of care for MS sufferers.^[152] In April 2009, she announced that she was withdrawing her support for Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland, citing her inability to resolve an ongoing feud between the organisation's northern and southern branches that had sapped morale and led to several resignations.^[152]

Other philanthropic work[link]

In May 2008, bookseller Waterstones asked Rowling and 12 other writers (Sebastian Faulks, Doris Lessing, Lisa Appignanesi, Margaret Atwood, Lauren Child, Richard Ford, Neil Gaiman, Nick Hornby, Michael Rosen, Axel Scheffler, Tom Stoppard and Irvine Welsh) to compose a short piece of their own choosing on a single A5 card, which would then be sold at auction in aid of the charities Dyslexia Action and English PEN. Rowling's contribution was an 800-word Harry Potter prequel that concerns Harry's father, James Potter, and godfather, Sirius Black, and takes place three years before Harry was born.^[153][154] The cards were collected together and sold for charity in book form in August 2008.^[154]

On 1 and 2 August 2006 she read alongside Stephen King and John Irving at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Profits from the event were donated to the Haven Foundation, a charity that aids artists and performers left uninsurable and unable to work, and the medical NGO Médecins Sans Frontières.^[155] In May 2007, Rowling pledged a donation reported as over £250,000 or over $495,000 to a reward fund started by the tabloid News of the World for the safe return of a young British girl, Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in Portugal.^[156] Rowling, along with Nelson Mandela, Al Gore, and Alan Greenspan, wrote an introduction to a collection of Gordon Brown's speeches, the proceeds of which are donated to the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory.^[157]

Rowling is a supporter of The Shannon Trust, which runs the Toe by Toe Reading Plan and the Shannon Reading Plan in prisons across Britain, helping and giving tutoring to prisoners who cannot read.^[158]

Political views[link]

In September 2008, on the eve of the Labour Party Conference, Rowling announced that she had donated £1 million to the Labour Party, and publicly endorsed Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown over Tory challenger David Cameron, saying in a statement:

I believe that poor and vulnerable families will fare much better under the Labour Party than they would under a Cameron-led Conservative Party. Gordon Brown has consistently prioritised and introduced measures that will save as many children as possible from a life lacking in opportunity or choice. The Labour government has reversed the long-term trend in child poverty, and is one of the leading EU countries in combating child poverty. David Cameron's promise of tax perks for the married, on the other hand, is reminiscent of the Conservative government I experienced as a lone parent. It sends the message that the Conservatives still believe a childless, dual-income, but married couple is more deserving of a financial pat on the head than those struggling, as I once was, to keep their families afloat in difficult times.^[159]

Rowling discussed the 2008 United States presidential election with the Spanish-language newspaper El País. She said she was obsessed with the United States elections because they would have a profound effect on the rest of the world. In February 2008, she said that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would be "extraordinary" in the White House. In the same interview, she also said her hero was Robert F. Kennedy.^[160]

In April 2010, Rowling published an article in The Times in which she heavily criticised Cameron's plan to encourage married couples to stay together by offering them a £150 annual tax credit.

Nobody who has ever experienced the reality of poverty could say "it's not the money, it's the message". When your flat has been broken into, and you cannot afford a locksmith, it is the money. When you are two pence short of a tin of baked beans, and your child is hungry, it is the money. When you find yourself contemplating shoplifting to get nappies, it is the money. If Mr Cameron's only practical advice to women living in poverty, the sole carers of their children, is "get married, and we'll give you £150", he reveals himself to be completely ignorant of their true situation. How many prospective husbands did I ever meet, when I was the single mother of a baby, unable to work, stuck inside my flat, night after night, with barely enough money for life's necessities? Should I have proposed to the youth who broke in through my kitchen window at 3 am? Half a billion pounds, to send a message – would it not be more cost-effective, more personal, to send all the lower-income married people flowers?^[161]

Religious views[link]

Over the years, some religious people have decried Rowling's books for supposedly promoting witchcraft. Rowling identifies as a Christian; she attended a Church of Scotland congregation while writing Harry Potter and her eldest daughter, Jessica, was baptised there.^[162] "I go to church myself", she says, "I don't take any responsibility for the lunatic fringes of my own religion".^[163] She once said, "I believe in God, not magic."^[164] Early on she felt that if readers knew of her Christian beliefs, they would be able to "guess what is coming in the books."^[165]

In 2007, Rowling described her religious background in an interview with the Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant:^[166]

I was officially raised in the Church of England, but I was actually more of a freak in my family. We didn't talk about religion in our home. My father didn't believe in anything, neither did my sister. My mother would incidentally visit the church, but mostly during Christmas. And I was immensely curious. From when I was 13, 14 I went to church alone. I found it very interesting what was being said there, and I believed in it. When I went to university, I became more critical. I got more annoyed with the smugness of religious people and I went to church less and less. Now I'm at the point where I started: yes, I believe. And yes, I go to the church. A Protestant church here in Edinburgh. My husband is also raised Protestant, but he comes from a very strict Scottish group. One where they couldn't sing and talk.

Rowling has occasionally expressed ambivalence about her religious faith. In a 2006 interview with Tatler magazine, Rowling noted that, "like Graham Greene, my faith is sometimes about if my faith will return. It's important to me."^[21] In a British documentary, JK Rowling: A Year in the Life, when asked if she believed in God, she said, "Yes. I do struggle with it; I couldn't pretend that I'm not doubt-ridden about a lot of things and that would be one of them but I would say yes." When asked if she believed in an afterlife, she said, "Yes; I think I do."^[167] She further said, "It's something that I wrestle with a lot. It preoccupies me a lot, and I think that's very obvious within the books."^[168] In a 2008 interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais, Rowling said, "I feel very drawn to religion, but at the same time I feel a lot of uncertainty. I live in a state of spiritual flux. I believe in the permanence of the soul."^[169] In an interview with the Today Show in July 2007, she said, "...until we reached Book Seven, views of what happens after death and so on... would give away a lot of what was coming. So... yes, my belief and my struggling with religious belief and so on I think is quite apparent in this book."^[170]

Legal disputes[link]

Rowling, her publishers, and Time Warner, the owner of the rights to the Harry Potter films, have taken numerous legal actions to protect their copyright. The worldwide popularity of the Harry Potter series has led to the appearance of a number of locally produced, unauthorised sequels and other derivative works, sparking efforts to ban or contain them.^[171]

Another area of legal dispute involves a series of injunctions obtained by Rowling and her publishers to prohibit anyone from reading her books before their official release date.^[172] The injunction drew fire from civil liberties and free speech campaigners and sparked debates over the "right to read".^[173][174]

Relationship with the press[link]

Rowling has had a difficult relationship with the press. She admits to being "thin-skinned" and dislikes the fickle nature of reporting. "They went in one day from saying, 'She's got writer's block' to saying, 'She's been self-indulgent'", she told The Times in 2003, "And I thought, well, what a difference 24 hours makes." Rowling disputes her reputation as a recluse who hates to be interviewed.^[175] In 2001, the Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint by Rowling over a series of unauthorised photographs of her with her daughter on the beach in Mauritius published in OK! Magazine.^[176] In 2007, Rowling's young son, David, assisted by Rowling and her husband, lost a court fight to ban publication of a photograph of him. The photo, taken by a photographer using a long-range lens, was subsequently published in a Sunday Express article featuring Rowling's family life and motherhood.^[20] The judgment was overturned in David's favour in May 2008.^[177][178]

Rowling has said she particularly dislikes the British tabloid the Daily Mail, which made references to a stalker Rowling insists does not exist, and conducted interviews with her estranged ex-husband. As one journalist noted, "Harry's Uncle Vernon is a grotesque philistine of violent tendencies and remarkably little brain. It is not difficult to guess which newspaper Rowling gives him to read [in Goblet of Fire]."^[179]

Some have speculated that Rowling's fraught relationship with the press was the inspiration behind the character Rita Skeeter, a gossipy celebrity journalist who first appears in Goblet of Fire, but Rowling noted in 2000 that the character actually predates her rise to fame: "People have asked me whether Rita Skeeter was invented [to reflect Harry Potter's popularity], but in fact she was always planned."^[180] "I tried to put Rita in Philosopher's Stone – you know when Harry walks into the Leaky Cauldron for the first time and everyone says, "Mr. Potter you're back!", I wanted to put a journalist in there. She wasn't called Rita then but she was a woman. And then I thought, as I looked at the plot overall, I thought, that's not really where she fits best, she fits best in Four when Harry's supposed to come to terms with his fame."^[181]

In September 2011, Rowling was named a "core participant" in the Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press, as one of dozens of celebrities who may have been the victim of phone hacking.^[182] On 24 November 2011, Rowling gave evidence before the inquiry; although she was not suspected to have been the victim of phone hacking (she "hardly used her phone in the 90s", she said),^[183] her testimony included accounts of photographers camping on her doorstep, her fiance being duped into giving his home address to a journalist masquerading as a tax official,^[183] a journalist leaving a note inside her then-five-year-old daughter's schoolbag, and an attempt by the Sun to "blackmail" her into a photo opportunity in exchange for the return of a stolen manuscript.^[184] Rowling claimed she had to leave her former home in Merchiston, Edinburgh because of press intrusion.^[184]

Awards and honours[link]

• 1997: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Gold Award for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• 1998: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Gold Award for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• 1998: British Children's Book of the Year, winner Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
• 1999: Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Gold Award for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• 1999: National Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, winner Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• 1999: Whitbread Children's Book of the Year, winner Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• 2000: British Book Awards, Author of the Year
• 2000: Order of the British Empire, Officer
• 2000: Locus Award, winner Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• 2001: Hugo Award for Best Novel, winner Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• 2003: Premio Príncipe de Asturias, Concord
• 2003: Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers, winner Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• 2006: British Book of the Year, winner for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
• 2007: Blue Peter Badge, Gold
• 2008: British Book Awards, Outstanding Achievement
• 2009: Légion d'honneur, Chevalier, presented by French President Nicolas Sarkozy
• 2010: Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award, inaugural award winner
• 2011: British Academy Film Awards, Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema for the Harry Potter film series, shared with David Heyman, cast and crew
• 2012: Freedom of the City of London
• Honorary degrees: St Andrews University, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, University of Exeter, Harvard University

Publications[link]

[edit] Harry Potter series

1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (26 June 1997)
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2 July 1998)
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (8 July 1999)
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (8 July 2000)
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (21 June 2003)
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (16 July 2005)
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (21 July 2007)

Other books[link]

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (2001)
• Quidditch Through the Ages (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (2001)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (supplement to the Harry Potter series) (2008)

Adult books[link]

• The Casual Vacancy (27 September 2012)

Short story[link]

• Harry Potter prequel (July 2008)

Articles[link]

• Anelli, Melissa (2008). Foreword to Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon. Pocket Books.
• Brown, Gordon (2006). Introduction to "Ending Child Poverty" in Moving Britain Forward. Selected Speeches 1997–2006. Bloomsbury.
• McNeil, Gil and Brown, Sarah, editors (2002). Foreword to the anthology Magic. Bloomsbury.
• Rowling, J.K. (2008, 5 June). "The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination". Harvard Magazine.
• Rowling, J.K. (2009, 30 April). "Gordon Brown – The 2009 Time 100". Time Magazine.
• Rowling, J.K. (2010, 14 April). "The Single Mother's Manifesto". The Times.
• Sussman, Peter Y., editor (2006, 26 July). "The First It Girl: J.K. Rowling reviews Decca: the Letters of Jessica Mitford. The Daily Telegraph.

References[link]