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College starts 'Battling Against Voldemort' course  
MTV has a new video report focusing on a college course called "Battling Against Voldemort." The course, at Swarthmore College, is made to teach students to read the books from a new perspective. It has become so popular that they developed a lottery system to determine who gets into the course.
Source: MTV Movie News via The Leaky Cauldron
Posted by Jeremy on Sep 25, 2008 at 9:27 PM

J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling talks Death Veil in new interview    
In a new interview conducted by Melissa Anelli as part of her preparations for writing her new book, "Harry, A History," J.K. Rowling talked briefly about the Death Veil in the Department of Mysteries.
Source: Harry, A History
Posted by Jeremy on Sep 25, 2008 at 7:51 PM

Black Family Tree Crest

Additional details of Rowling's Black Family Tree    
Tonight in London, the Black Family Tree that "Harry Potter" author JK Rowling sketched and donated to Book Aid International was on display for the public to preview before tomorrow's auction. A report by a fan who attended the preview is now available online, with additional names and details that were previously withheld.
Source: HP Lexicon via The Leaky Cauldron
Posted by eudaemonia on Feb 20, 2006 at 9:45 PM

Black Family Tree to benefit Book Aid    
JK Rowling, along with other renowned authors, has donated handwritten work to be auctioned off for the benefit of Book Aid International, an organization which puts "books into the hands of the world's most disadvantaged readers." The "Harry Potter" author has put up for auction a drawn layout of the Black Family Tree, which was first introduced to readers in "Order of the Phoenix", that reveals members of the wizarding community not previously mentioned in the series. "The Daily Telegraph" has released a portion of this drawing and is available online.
Source: News Tip
Posted by eudaemonia on Jan 28, 2006 at 8:20 PM

Official Harry Potter audiobooks now on iTunes    
Steve Jobs announced today at an Apple press event in San Francisco that JK Rowling has signed an exclusive deal to make all six and the to-be-released final "Harry Potter" audiobooks available for purchase and download on iTunes, effective immediately. Additionally, a special edition "Harry Potter iPod" will be made available featuring the Hogwarts school crest, designed by the author.
Source: CNET via Yahoo! News
Posted by Cheeser on Sep 7, 2005 at 2:56 PM

Harry Potter 1-6

New Harry Potter hardcover boxed set coming    
While Christopher Paolini's second novel may have knocked "Harry Potter" down a notch on Amazon.com's bestseller list, Scholastic is ramping up to offer a boxed set of all six "Potter" books to date. A new image of the set, which will cost about $100 and include hardcover editions packaged in an artwork-covered case, is now online.
Source: HPANA
Posted by Cheeser on Aug 25, 2005 at 6:16 PM

Jim Dale reads from 'OotP' on the 'Today Show'    
It would seem that the surprise on NBC's "Today Show" really wasn't a surprise to fans. It was anticipated that Jim Dale would read from the upcoming book "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" but to the disappointment of many he read an excerpt from "Order of the Phoenix" (which was still enjoyable).
Source: The Today Show
Posted by Geri on Jul 12, 2005 at 9:29 AM

Boxed set of all 'Potter' books due this fall    
Scholastic announced earlier this month that a boxed set of the first six "Harry Potter" novels -- from "Sorcerer's Stone" to "Half-Blood Prince" -- will hit shelves in October. The retail price will be about $160 but Amazon is currently accepting pre-orders at around $100.
Source: Scholastic via Veritaserum
Posted by Cheeser on Jun 29, 2005 at 11:57 PM

Greenpeace request

'Harry Potter' and the ancient forest friendly paper    
Earlier this week Greenpeace created a petition for fans of the "Harry Potter" series to ask Bloomsbury, the UK publisher, to print the next book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," on 100 percent ancient forest friendly paper.
Source: Greenpeace via Wizard News
Posted by Geri on Feb 24, 2005 at 5:08 PM

Potter director who got away    
Even though David Yates is directing "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" he wasn't the first choice by Warner Bros. Variety via Dark Horizons is reporting that the original choice for director was "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" producer Matthew Vaughn (a name that was never shuffled around Potter web sites), but because Vaughn's pitch was a 'tad too graphic and violent for the studio's taste' they went with Yates.
Source: DarkHorizons.com via Wizard News
Posted by Geri on Jan 17, 2005 at 1:27 PM

'Phoenix' book sales slow down in Japan  
It has been over one month since the Japanese translation of "Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix" hit book shelves in Japan with a record 2.9 million print run, but many bookstores are now reporting that sales have been lower than expected. "We're stumped to know why it hasn't sold as well as we expected," said an official of a major bookstore chain.
Source: Daily Yomiuri via Wizard News
Posted by Geri on Oct 1, 2004 at 10:02 PM

Yuko Matsuoka, Japanese translator

Interview with Japanese translator of Harry Potter    
Japan Today has an interivew with Yuko Matsuoka, the Japanese translator of the Harry Potter books. Ms. Matsuoka describes the process involved in the translating, meeting JK Rowling (before she became famous) and on not letting the movies affect her translations.
Source: Metropolis, Tokyo via Wizard News
Posted by Geri on Sep 26, 2004 at 6:14 PM

JKRowling.com turns Japanese, gains site award  
To coincide with the release of the Japanese version of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", author JK Rowling's official site now also has a Japanese edition. In related news, Macromedia (which makes the technology used in Rowling's site) has named JKRowling.com today's "Site of the Day". It as designed by Lightmaker Group, and this is the company's ninth time on the list for one of its sites.
Source: HarryLatino.com
Posted by Cheeser on Sep 1, 2004 at 5:34 PM

'Order of the Phoenix' tops bookseller lists again  
Since it’s debut last week the paperback version of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” has landed in the number one spot on USAToday’s, Amazon, Barnes & Noble & BookWeb’s book lists.
Source: The Leaky Cauldron
Posted by Geri on Aug 19, 2004 at 7:46 PM

Collection of HP paperbacks

'Expecto Paperback-um' spell cast by Scholastic  
Scholastic, the U.S. publisher of JK Rowling's "Harry Potter" books, unveiled a $1 million marketing blitz to usher in the paperback version of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" on August 10. We've got a sneak peek of one of the new ads featuring the "Expecto Paperback-um" message.
Source: HPANA
Posted by Cheeser on Aug 13, 2004 at 2:30 PM

'Order of the Phoenix' cover

Paperback version of 'Order of the Phoenix' out today  
The paperback version of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" comes out today (Tuesday, Aug. 10) with a first printing of 2 million as well as a sky-high promotional campaign by Scholastic Inc., the U.S. publisher.
Source: AP via Yahoo! News
Posted by Geri on Aug 9, 2004 at 4:30 PM

Rowling answers poll question about Mark Evans    
J.K. Rowling has finally answered the question that many Harry Potter fans have been asking since the publication of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" -- Who exactly is Mark Evans?
Source: JKRowling.com via The Leaky Cauldron
Posted by Geri on Jul 6, 2004 at 11:07 AM

Life imitates 'Order of the Phoenix'    
A reader sent in this disturbing news: "Couldn't believe it when I read this article about a Japanese teacher forcing a student to write an apology in his own blood. It is way too much like one of the most shocking scenes in [Harry Potter and the] Order of the Phoenix. This real-life teacher had to lend the student a decidedly nonmagical box cutter to draw the blood to be used as ink."
Source: Reuters
Posted by Cheeser on Jun 22, 2004 at 10:46 PM

Audio book of 'Order of the Phoenix' wins an Audie  
The audio version of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" read by Jim Dale has won an Audie award at the annual audiobook award ceremony held earlier this month in Chicago.
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Yahoo! News
Posted by Geri on Jun 20, 2004 at 3:12 PM

JK Rowling

Rowling wins award for 'Order of the Phoenix'  
Adult readers of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" have chosen JK Rowling as the winner of the WH Smith People's Choice Book Award in the fiction category over such notable authors as Ian Rankin, James Herbert, Mark Haddon and Colum McCann.
Source: WH Smith Book Awards via The Leaky Cauldron
Posted by Geri on Mar 16, 2004 at 8:03 PM