JK ROWLING RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS EDINBURGH AWARD

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been honoured by the Scottish city where she first created the adventures of the famous boy wizard. JK Rowling penned many of the early stories about Harry whilst sitting in cafes around Edinburgh. Since then the boy wizard has become phenomenally successful the world over with book sales of over 400 million. The stories have also been translated into 67 languages.

JK Rowling has now received the prestigious Edinburgh award for her efforts. A judging panel consisting of members from the arts, science and business worlds unanimously voted her the 2008 winner, saying that her literary achievements have helped to put the Scottish city on the map. After receiving the award at a special ceremony in Edinburgh, JK Rowling said it was an “absolute honour” and she considered Edinburgh to be “home”. Rebus series creator and writer Ian Rankin won the prestigious award last year.

Meanwhile JK Rowling has just donated £1million to the Labour party, mainly because she believes in the party’s record on child poverty. JK Rowling stated that she believed that poor and vulnerable families would fare much better under Labour than under a Cameron-led Conservative party. The writer was herself a single mum, living on benefits when she wrote the first book about the boy wizard’s adventures. JK Rowling is a personal friend of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah. No doubt Mr Brown will use some of the money to try and improve his public image as his popularity and that of the Labour party has now sank to an all-time low. Poor Gordon, as the British public struggle to cope with rising energy and food bills and the threat of job losses, JK Rowling must be his only friend in this country.