J K Rowling

Selected Awards & Prizes
J K Rowling was voted author of the year at the 1999 British Book Awards (Nibbies) and won the Booksellers Association Author of the Year award two years in a row (1998 and 1999). She won the W H Smith Children's Book of the Year for 2000 and this year, 2004, she was awarded the WH Smith's Fiction Award. She was awarded an OBE for services to children's literature in June 2000 and in 2003 received Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Concord. She has honorary degrees from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire USA, University of Exeter, University of St Andrews, Napier University, Edinburgh, and University of Edinburgh. J K Rowling is the President of the charity One Parent Families, and the patron of The Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland. The Books Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published by Bloomsbury Children's Books in June 1997. The second title in the series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was published in July 1998 and was No. 1 in the adult hardback bestseller charts for a month after publication. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was published on 8th July 1999 to worldwide acclaim and massive press attention. The book spent four weeks at No.1 in the adult hardback bestseller charts, while Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone simultaneously topped the paperback charts. The fourth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published on 8th July 2000 with a record first print run of 1 million copies for the UK. It quickly broke all records for the greatest number of books sold on the first day of publication in the UK. Published in paperback in July 2001, it has remained in the bestseller lists ever since. The fifth book in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was published in Britain, the USA, Canada and Australia on 21st June 2003. Published in paperback on 10th July 2004, it is the longest yet.