Kevin's Watch

Rowling Named Best Living British Author

London - JK Rowling, who wrote the record-selling Harry Potter series, was named on Thursday as the greatest living British author, beating weighty talents such as Salman Rushdie and playwright Harold Pinter.

A poll by The Book Magazine collected three times as many votes for Rowling than the second-placed name on the list, fantasy writer Terry Pratchett.

Booker Prize winners Ian McEwan, Rushdie - who penned the 1988 book The Satanic Verses - and Kazuo Ishiguro came next.

They were followed by children's author Philip Pullman and Pinter, who won the 2005 Nobel Prize for literature.

Christine Kidney, editor of The Book Magazine, said: "Our survey provides a fascinating insight into what the British public thinks makes a 'great' writer.

"It shows how a writer can connect with us, as if we were the only reader in the world, and it's why books prove to be such enduringly popular objects."

Joanne Kathleen Rowling, 40, shot to literary fame and worldwide acclaim with her stories about the adventures of Potter and his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Fans are eagerly awaiting the last instalment in the seven-part series.

The first six books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide and been translated into 63 languages.

The first four have also been made into blockbuster movies.

Other entries on the list of top authors were Nick Hornby, who wrote About A Boy, and Jonathan Coe, author of The Rotters' Club alongside literary giant AS Byatt and spy writer John Le Carre.

The top 20 British authors were:

1. JK Rowling

2. Terry Pratchett

3. Ian McEwan

4. Salman Rushdie

5. Kazuo Ishiguro

6. Philip Pullman

7. Harold Pinter

8. Nick Hornby

9. AS Byatt

10. Jonathan Coe and John Le Carre

12. Doris Lessing

13. Alan Bennett

14. Iain Banks

15. Muriel Spark

16. David Mitchell

17. Martin Amis

18. Ian Rankin

19. Pat Barker and Alasdair Gray