JK Rowling denies claims of pen name Robert Galbraith's connection to conversion therapist

JK Rowling's books under the pen name Robert Galbraith grew quite popular as they were her first novels for adults after the fantasy series Harry Potter. She had earlier faced backlash for using the pseudonym of Robert Galbraith and had also faced claims of taking this pen name from a psychiatrist. According to a recent media report by Metro, JK Rowling has denied such claims. Here is everything you need to know about JK Rowling's pseudonym and what she had to say about it.

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JK Rowling denies claims that her pen name is taken from a conversion therapist

JK Rowling’s representative recently spoke about her pen name in an interview with Metro. The representative said that JK Rowling was not aware of psychiatrist Robert Galbraith Heath when she opted for this pen name for writing her crime novels. He further addressed the claims and said that any connection or assertion about it being related to the psychiatrist is false referring to them as ‘unfounded and untrue’.

JK Rowling had earlier opened up about how she came up with the name Robert Galbraith in a Q&A on her original Robert Galbraith website. She had revealed that it was partially inspired by Robert F Kennedy. The writer had mentioned that she chose Robert because it was one of her favourite men’s names and because Robert F Kennedy is her hero. There was another reason behind choosing the name Robert as she had not used the name for any character in the Harry Potter series or Casual Vacancy.

Talking about the surname Galbraith, JK Rowling shared it was her childhood wish to be called Ella Galbraith and there is no particular reason behind it. Back then she did not even know that such surname existed as she had not met anyone with that surname. Therefore out of fascination, she went for the surname Galbraith and the pseudonym Robert Galbraith happened.

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JK Rowling Controversy on Robert Galbraith

Robert Galbraith Heath was a controversial psychiatrist because of his experiments that would now be considered deeply unethical. He is known for his gay conversion therapy experiments where he attempted to change a person’s sexual orientation. It is now banned in several US jurisdictions. The claims of her taking the name from such a controversial person come after the release of her latest novel under the name Robert Galbraith, Troubled Blood. It is from her Cormoran Strike series where Private Detective Cormoran Strike is trying to solve the disappearance of a woman in Cornwall in 1974, where he is up against a psychopathic serial killer.

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