Hemmingway (/ˈʃeɪkspɪər/;[1] 26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616)[nb 1] was an

English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in

the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.[2] He is often called
England'snational poet and the "Bard of Avon".[3][nb 2] His extant works, including
some collaborations, consist of around 38 plays,[nb 3] 154 sonnets, two
long 2narrative poems, and a few other verses, of which the authorship of some
is uncertain. His plays have been translated into every major living language and
are performed more often than those of any other playwright.[4]

Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18,

he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and
twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career
in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called
the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have
retired to Stratford around 1613 at age 49, where he died three years later. Few
records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable
speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious
beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.[5]

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613.[6][nb 4] His
early plays were mainly comedies and historiesand these works remain regarded
as some of the best work produced in these genres. He then wrote
mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear,
and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his
last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated
with other playwrights.

Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy
during his lifetime. In 1623, John Heminges and Henry Condell, two friends and
fellow actors of Shakespeare, published the First Folio, a collected edition of his
dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as
Shakespeare's. It was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which
Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as "not of an age, but for all time".[7] In the
20th and 21st centuries, his work has been repeatedly adopted and rediscovered
by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly
popular today and are constantly studied, performed, and reinterpreted in diverse
cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

Joanne "Jo" Rowling, OBE FRSL[2] (/ˈroʊlɪŋ/; born 31 July 1965),[1] pen names J.

K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, is a British novelist best known as the author
of the Harry Potter fantasy series. The books have gained worldwide attention,
won multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies.[3] They have become
the best-selling book series in history[4] and been the basis for a series of
films which is the second highest-grossing film series in history.[5] Rowling had
overall approval on the scripts[6] and maintained creative control by serving as a
producer on the final instalment.[7]

Born in Yate, Gloucestershire, Rowling was working as a researcher and

bilingual secretary for Amnesty International when she conceived the idea for
the Harry Potter series on a delayed train from Manchester to London in 1990.
[8]
 The seven-year period that followed saw the death of her mother, divorce from
her first husband and relative poverty until Rowling finished the first novel in the
series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997. There were six
sequels, the last, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007. Since then,
Rowling has written three books for adult readers, The Casual Vacancy (2012)
and—under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith—the crime fiction novels The
Cuckoo's Calling (2013) and The Silkworm (2014).[9]

Rowling has led a "rags to riches" life story, in which she progressed from living
on state benefits to multi-millionaire status within five years. She is the United
Kingdom's best-selling living author, with sales in excess of £238m.[10] The
2008 Sunday Times Rich Listestimated Rowling's fortune at £560 million, ranking
her as the twelfth richest woman in the United Kingdom.[11] Forbes ranked
Rowling as the forty-eighth most powerful celebrity of 2007,
[12]
 and Time magazine named her as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year,
noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fans.[13] In
October 2010, Rowling was named the "Most Influential Woman in Britain" by
leading magazine editors.[14] She has supported charities including Comic
Relief, One Parent Families, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great
Britain and Lumos (formerly the Children's High Level Group), and in politics
supports the Labour Party and Better Together.