JK Rowling

The highs and lows of Harry Potter’s outrageous fortunes

An evaluation of each of the films from the Harry Potter series

28 Jun 2011

Having earned £6 billion worldwide, Harry Potter is the highest grossing film franchise of all time. And while the critical reception hasn’t always matched the commercial one (no Academy Awards yet), the films have been as successful as JK Rowling’s…

J.K Rowling to appear on Who Do You Think You Are

TV Gossip

27 Jun 2011

J. K. Rowling is to appear on 'Who Do You Think You Are?'. The 'Harry Potter' writer agreed to take part in the series - which sees celebrity participants research their family history - to discover more about her late mother Anne's French ancestry…

A guide to Edinburgh's authors and books

Edinburgh, first City of Literature, boasts some of the world’s most famous and well-loved authors

16 Feb 2011

Challenge anyone who doubts Edinburgh’s claim to be a literary city to come up with another capital whose main station is named after a novel (Sir Walter Scott’s Waverley), one of whose football teams is named after another (The Heart of Midlothian…

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1

16 Nov 2010

(12A) 145min The decision to split the final adaptation of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books into two episodes will mostly pay dividends at the accounting office of Warner Brothers, as on-screen the latest wizard tale, the seventh in the series, lacks…

How seven key figures in Scottish culture have fared over 25 years

25 years of The List

23 Sep 2010

Didn’t they do well? Scotland has more than its fair share of talent, finds Kirstin Innes, as she chronicles the highs and lows of some of our finest exports over 25 years, including Peter Capaldi, Carol Ann Duffy, Ian Rankin, Douglas Gordon, Tilda…

Up close with Cherry Tree Lane, Skeletons and Ollie Kepler's Expanding Purple World

Edinburgh International Film Festival Blog

23 Jun 2010

Tuesday 22 Jun Paul Andrew Williams’ Cherry Tree Lane was one of the first films I saw here this year, and I did not like it. No sir. As I watched the London to Brighton director’s brutal tale of suburban home invasion playing out in real time, I…

Edinburgh, My Home: Jonathan Mills

22 Mar 2010

Edinburgh International Festival director Jonathan Mills on the virtues and indiscretions of his adopted home

The Hot 100 2008

11 Dec 2008

It’s been a helluva year. 2008 has been a time of significant global change, socially, politically and culturally, with Scotland no exception. So here, for your delectation, is The List’s pick of the 100 people, places and things that rocked our world…

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

27 Nov 2008

Prepare for some bleary eyed school kids on the morning of 4 December, as they recover from a rather special shopping trip the night before. At 12.01am the previous night, the book which helped Harry, Ron and Hermione defeat Lord Voldemort will finally…

JK Rowling's author fortune

Celebrity Gossip

3 Oct 2008

JK Rowling earns £3 million a week. The 'Harry Potter' author's incredible earnings - equivalent to £5 a second - are from the 375 million sales of the seven books in the popular children's series, a percentage of revenue from the movie adaptations…

J.K. Rowling's mother regret

Celebrity Gossip

23 Jul 2008

J.K. Rowling's biggest regret is that her mother never saw her 'Harry Potter' books. The 42-year-old author began work on the worldwide best-selling stories about the boy wizard in 1990, but her mum Anne died before J.K. - real name Joanne - had the…

Harry Potter tops poll of UK’s most re-read books

9 Nov 2007

The Harry Potter novels have topped a list of the most re-read books, according to a poll conducted to mark the 2007 Costa Book Awards. JK Rowling fended off competition from JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice…

Rowling completes Harry Potter fairytales

1 Nov 2007

JK Rowling has completed a set of handwritten fairytales mentioned in her last book – but is not planning to have them published. The Edinburgh-based author has written just seven of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which was a book left to Hermione by…

Rowling defends decision to ‘out’ Dumbledore

24 Oct 2007

JK Rowling has spoken about the furore surrounding her decision to ‘out’ Harry Potter’s head teacher Albus Dumbledore. The author told reporters at a news conference in Toronto that she had not made the revelations earlier because she had never…

JK Rowling signs 1,600 books to launch US tour

16 Oct 2007

JK Rowling kicked off a tour of the US yesterday, as she sat down to sign 1,600 books for schoolchildren in Los Angeles. The Edinburgh-based author said the event, which included a reading from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was an ‘amazing…

Signed Harry Potter books raise thousands for charity

1 Oct 2007

A collection of Harry Potter books signed by JK Rowling has raised almost £20,000 for charity after an internet auction. Considered one of just a few complete signed sets in the world, the seven books were kept under lock and key in an Aberdeenshire…

Not the end of Potter, says Rowling

27 Jul 2007

JK Rowling has offered a glimmer of hope to Harry Potter fans downcast after the final boy wizard book was published last week, with plans to write more material. The Edinburgh-based author said a new encyclopedia would include more information about…

J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997)

100 Best Scottish Books of all Time

1 Jan 2005

Before the Empire - the midnight queues round the block, the merchandise, the films and 800-page sequels - there was The Philosopher's Stone. It's easy to forget just what a phenomenon it is, and why. The story begins with Hagrid taking an 11-year-old…