J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter publishing phenomenon
Sono passati venti anni dalla pubblicazione di Harry Potter e la pietra filosofale, il primo libro della fortunatissima saga della scrittrice inglese J.K. Rowling e quante cose sono cambiate da allora nella vita della giovane mamma single e disoccupata che scriveva seduta a un tavolino di un caffè di Edimburgo! Ce lo racconta questo interessante servizio di Stardom.
By the way, while you watch the video, try to catch the answers to these questions:
- How many books are there in the Harry Potter series?
- Where and when did J.K. Rowling have the inspiration to write Harry Potter?
- When was the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, published?
- How many publishers rejected the book before Bloomsbury decided to take it up?
- When was the last book, the Deathly Hallows, released?
- What record does it hold?
- What were the drawbacks of J.K. Rowling’s incredible success?
If you need help, here’s the transcript:
“In the world of children’s books there are successful authors and then there is J.K. Rowling. It’s estimated that today she’s sold nearly 400 million copies of her books. To put this into perspective, that’s around the same number as Enid Blyton. Blyton, however, produced 800 titles over 40 years, Jo Rowling achieved those incredible sales figures with just 7 novels in 10 years. The books are, of course, the Harry Potter series, which started in 1997 and came to a conclusion in 2007. When Rowling began the first book she was a single mom living in Edinburgh and had to get her baby asleep before she could get any writing done in the local café.
«He was in such a bad mood by the time he got to divination that he had quite forgotten his career’s appointment with Professor McGonagall, remembering it only when Ron asked him why he wasn’t in her office. He hurtled back upstairs and arrived out of breath only a few minutes late.
– Sorry professor, he…»
J.K. Rowling was born in July 1965 in Gloucestershire, Harry Potter, however, was born fully formed one day in 1990 when she was on a four-hour delay train trip from Manchester to London. But while she was writing, she lost her mother, after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. The emotional effects of this go a long way to explain the feelings of loss that permeate the whole series. Twelve publishers famously rejected Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone before Bloomsbury took it up on the recommendation of the Chairman’s eight-year-old daughter, after she’d read the first chapter. And the books have been a publishing phenomenon. Credited with getting a whole generation of children interested in reading again, they’ve also been surprisingly successful with adults. By the time the Deathly Hallows was released in 2007, sales records were being blasted out of the water. It became the fastest selling book of all time and sold 11 million copies in the UK and in the US on its first day of release. The first five film versions met with equally stunning success, grossing more than four billion dollars, making Harry Potter the highest earning film franchise of all time. But with success came high expectations and Rowling’s plot and character choices were subjected to intense scrutiny, something she was happy to see the end of when she completed the series.
«To an extent the pressure’s off, I suppose, because it’s the last book, so I feel quite liberated I can just resolve the story now. And it’s fun, it’s fun in a way that it hasn’t been before, because finally I’m doing my resolution. I think some people loathe it and some will love it, but that’s how it should be.»
Once the seventh book was out, it was time for Rowling to say goodbye to Harry. To ease the process, she decided to hand write and illustrate a fairy tale story as a gift to six people who were closely connected to Harry Potter. The Tales of Beedle the Bard was referred to in the final Potter book. A seventh hand written story was auctioned and raised almost two million pounds for a children’s charity in the Czech Republic.
«I probably won’t say goodbye in any meaningful sense for a few more years, because they’re still making the films, of course, and I’m still very involved with the films, which is wonderful. I will forever, I mean I know and you know that I will forever be known as the writer of Harry Potter and I’m completely fine with that. Harry has given me than I could have ever dreamed of and I’m very grateful.»
And who wouldn’t be grateful? Thanks to Harry and his pals, Rowling has earned more than a billion dollars. The mother of three donates much of her time and money to deserving causes, with various children’s charities particularly high on her list of priorities.
«I’m really happy. I mean, I think I’ve become happier and happier and part of the reason is that I feel I’m doing the thing that I most want to do and I think that I’ve got better at it, actually, because I think the last book was my favourite of the series, and that was the best way to end.»”
Nel Regno Unito i festeggiamenti per questo importante anniversario sono cominciati da settimane e continueranno fino a fine anno con edizioni speciali, convegni, mostre. In Italia, dove Harry Potter e la pietra filosofale è uscito nel 1998, i festeggiamenti avranno luogo il prossimo anno. Nel frattempo, se volete prepararvi a organizzare feste a tema, ecco lo splendido kit scaricabile direttamente dal sito della Bloomsbury – HARRY POTTER 20th ANNIVERSARY PACK, con curiosità, giochi e addirittura il template per realizzare dei fantastici biglietti di invito!
Happy Birthday, Harry Potter! j
