What with all the celebrations which have surrounded international women’s day, HCX thought we would celebrate one extremely talented and inspirational woman who actually attended the University of Exeter. That’s right, J.K. Rowling.
Having graduted Exeter with a 2:2 in French and Classics, Rowling has gone on to achieve immense success with her spell-binding Harry Potter books. Harry Potter has not only gone on to become a household name but also a global franchise. The series of books has been translated into 65 languages, is estimated to have a global worth of $15 billion – the last four books alone have set records for being the fast selling books of all time, not to mention the blockbuster films that have been spawned after the books’ incredible popularity.
J. K. Rowling is a brilliant example of what hard work and an amazing imagination can achieve. Rowling suffered much heartache having watched her mother suffer from the dibilitating disease multiple sclerosis, not to mention having experienced a divorce from her first husband leaving her as a single parent for many years, and imagined the idea for Harry Potter during this low period of her life on a train travelling to London.
The rest they say is history: Harry Potter went from strength to strength, capturing the imagination of children and adults the world over. She also found happiness in her personal life when she married second husband David and gave birth to two more children.
In 2013 Rowling was classed as the 13th most successful woman in Britain, and in 2004 Forbes magazine named her the first person to becom a US billionaire from writing books.
Literary and financial success aside, J.K Rowling has also done an immense amount for charity (which actually knocked her off Forbes’ billionaire list – it’s been that extensive): She co-founded the Children’s High Level Group (CHLG) with Baroness Emma Nicholson MEP in 2005. She was moved to do so by an article reporting that children were sleeping in caged beds, in institutions in the Czech Republic, amongst supporting many other worthy causes.