Elizabeth Knudsen

There are many different reasons why female authors have chosen to take male pennames. In years past, the reason was political. Authors like Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) wrote under a male name to ensure their more political novels were taken seriously in an era when women’s rights were practically nonexistent. Other reasons were due to great influence by male authors and the desire to imitate them. An example of this is Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin (George Sand). In more modern times, female authors have still felt they had to write under a male pseudonym to ensure their books were accepted by the male audience, such as Christina Lynch and Meg Howrey (Magnus Flyte). This final essay explores yet another reason a female writer to write under a male pseudonym.

Robert Galbraith is the author of the Comoran Strike series, which presently consists of three books: The Cuckoo’s Calling, The Silkworm, and Career of Evil. It is widely known, however, this award-winning author is not an old war veteran after all, but a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series.

Joanne Rowling was born in July 1965 at Yate General Hospital in England and grew up in Chepstow, Gwent, where she went to Wyedean Comprehensive. She left Chepstow for Exeter University, where she earned a French and Classics degree. She then moved to London and worked as a researcher at Amnesty International among other jobs. The Harry Potter series began during a delayed Manchester to London King’s Cross train journey, and during the next five years, outlined the plots for each book and began writing the first novel. Jo then moved to northern Portugal, where she taught English as a foreign language. She married in October 1992 and gave birth to a daughter, Jessica, in 1993. When the marriage ended, she and Jessica returned to the UK to live in Edinburgh, where Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone was eventually completed. The book was first published by Bloomsbury Children’s Books in June 1997, under the name J.K. Rowling. Her initials were used instead of her full name because her publisher thought a female author would deter the target audience (young boys) from reading the books.

As is known, the Harry Potter series was wildly successful, having sold over 450 million copies in 69 languages. So why then, at the height of her success, would J.K. Rowling write under a male pseudonym?

According to the author herself:

To begin with I was yearning to go back to the beginning of a writing career in this new genre, to work without hype or expectation and to receive totally unvarnished feedback. It was a fantastic experience and I only wish it could have gone on longer than it did. I was grateful at the time for all the feedback from publishers and readers, and for some great reviews. Being Robert Galbraith was all about the work, which is my favorite part of being a writer. Now that my cover has been blown, I plan to continue to write as Robert to keep the distinction from other writing and because I rather enjoy having another persona.

J.K. Rowling wrote under a male pseudonym in order to receive unbiased feedback. This is something to be respected. She didn’t use a penname under some illusion her books wouldn’t sell because she was a woman; she wanted to start again. And her books sold with or without the disguise.

In previous eras, the reasoning for male pseudonyms may have been political, but today more often than not women do it just because. And that’s encouraging. Social justice has come a long way, and now women don’t have to pretend they’re men in order to have their political opinions heard and valued.

Bibliography

Rowling, Joanne. J.K. Rowling. N.p., 2012. Web. 18 May 2016. <www.jkrowling.com/en_GB/#/about-jk-rowling>.

—. Robert Galbraith. N.p., 2014. Web. 18 May 2016. <robert-galbraith.com/about/>.