LAlgerian boxer Imane Khelif, who some suspect is a man despite denials from the International Olympic Committee, was the victim of a high-profile controversy during her participation in the Olympic Games this summer, which saw her take home gold. In recent days, transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo, who is competing in the Paralympic Games, has also been attacked by those who believe she has no place in women’s events. In both controversies, a voice, louder because more famous, has been heard: that of the novelist JK Rowling (JKR), who considers Khelif to be a « homme » and Petrillo as a “cheater”. How did the once discreet author become an anti-trans activist?
In the literary pages of Monde, His name first appeared on January 29, 1999, for his best-selling novel about “Adventures of a Little Sorcerer’s Apprentice”Harry Potter. Journalist Jacques Baudou salutes “a perfect success that plays with mystery and thrills with virtuosity”. Many brief articles will follow to mention the awards received by this saga which appeals to children and adults alike. This success – 30 million copies of the first three parts were sold in less than three years – pushes “Le Monde des livres” to publish a first full-page portrait of the author on March 31, 2000. Florence Noiville sets off on the trail of this unknown 35-year-old, translated “in thirty-five languages.” In France, the little wizard Harry Potter “launched by Gallimard in 1998, is already flirting with half a million copies sold”.
His story, Here it is: “When she launches into Harry Potterin the early 1990s, JK Rowling, born in 1965, is a single mother. She lives in Edinburgh, without resources, in a freezing flat. During the day, she walks her baby in a pushchair, and, when the little girl falls asleep, she takes refuge in the café to write pages. The one the journalist calls “JKR-Cinderella” It was rejected by all publishers until, in 1997, the English publisher 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 the press conference exercise by setting her conditions. “Three questions for each. And a photoshoot to round it all off: something rarely seen in publishing!” Florence Noiville is surprised. Who nevertheless gleans a few confidences. The writer tells in « compulsion » to write, from the age of 6, but also this “chemical imbalance” that she feels and which allows her to draw on her childhood memories and write « sans effort ».
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