lAlgerian boxer Imane Khelif, who some suspect is a man despite the International Olympic Committee’s denials, bore the brunt of a highly publicised controversy during her participation in this summer’s Olympic Games, which saw her walk away with gold. In recent days, transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo, who is participating in the Paralympics, has also been attacked by those who believe she has no place in the women’s events. In both these controversies, one voice resonated, louder because more famous: that of novelist JK Rowling (JKR) who considers Khelif a ” man ” and Petrillo as “cheating”How did the once-discreet author become an anti-trans activist?
In the literary pages of World, His name first appeared on January 29, 1999 for his successful novel about “The adventures of a little sorcerer’s apprentice”Harry Potter. Journalist Jacques Baudou greets “a perfect success that plays virtuosically with mystery and emotion”. There will be numerous summaries to mention the awards received by this saga that is loved by both children and adults. This success (30 million copies of the first three parts were sold in less than three years) prompted “Le Monde des livres” to publish a first full-page portrait of the author on March 31, 2000. Florence Noiville set out in the footsteps of this unknown 35-year-old, translated “in thirty-five languages.” In France, the little magician Harry Potter “launched by Gallimard in 1998, has already sold almost half a million copies”.
Its history, here it is: “When she throws herself into harry potterIn the early 1990s, JK Rowling, born in 1965, is a single mother. She lives in Edinburgh, destitute, in a freezing flat. During the day, she pushes her baby around in a pram and, when the little one falls asleep, she retreats to the café to write a few pages. » The one the journalist names “JKR-Cinderella” It was rejected by all the publishers until, in 1997, the English company Bloomsbury finally published it.
Secret and silent
A successful novelist, JKR does not want to be known: she refuses all interviews and only agrees to press conferences on her terms. “Three questions for each one. And a photo shoot to top it all off: something rarely seen in the publishing world!” Florencia Noiville is surprised. Who, however, collects some confidences. The writer tells his “compulsion” writing, since I was 6, but also this “chemical imbalance” that he feels and that allows him to draw on his childhood memories and write “easy”.
You have 63.29% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
