Although JK Rowling has insisted over the years that there will never be any more Harry Potter novels, and put in an epilogue in order to unambiguously end the seven book series, she continues to release Harry Potter material all the time.
She’s written the screenplay writer for a spin-off film trilogy, based on the fictitious textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. She regularly releases new material through the fansite Pottermore, which is dutifully picked up and reported by international media every time it is out.
However, none of this material is a truly substantial addition to, or continuation of Harry Potter’s saga. Newt Scamander, the central figure of the spin-off films, isn’t even a character in the books, and the ‘new stories’ released on Pottermore are actually bits of backstory that Rowling reveals in order to deepen readers’ understanding of already familiar events, such as why the Dursleys dislike Harry Potter quite so much.
For the first time since the series ended, this is very likely about to change. Rowling announced the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on 26 June, the 18th anniversary of the publication of the first Harry Potter book.
This is what we know about it so far: it will debut in London next year, and is the result of a collaboration between Rowling, writer Jack Thorne, and director John Tiffany. It will reveal an “untold part” of Harry Potter’s story, and that it “... will offer a unique insight into the heart and mind of the now legendary young wizard.” Rowling emphasised several times over that it is not a prequel.
She also addressed the question of why the story wasn’t a new novel: “I am confident that when audiences see the play they will agree that it was the only proper medium for the story.”
The question, though: why is Rowling doing this, considering she has been so insistent in the past about not continuing with the series? Perhaps she has either changed her mind about wanting to continue to tell Harry’s story, or that she doesn’t see any of this as being the same as writing a whole new novel in the series.
Cynics may imagine that it’s a way to make even more money off the series, after it has already given Rowling the kind of fame and wealth that the average writer could never expect. Whatever the answer, Rowling’s fandom is still going strong, and those who want more Harry Potter are certainly not complaining.
Fandom
Millions of people are discovering or continuing to engage with its magical world in millions of ways. There are, of course, the blockbuster films which catapulted Dan Radcliffe and Emma Watson’s careers to global prominence. But there are also many textual, physical, and online inroads through which readers to dig deeper into these books they love.
These are examinations of the mythologies used by Rowling, etymological enquiries into character names, alternate versions of the ending, and all kinds of other fan fiction (including my favourite, some rather hilarious erotica). There are serious academic studies of the series, ludicrous fan theories (including one that Ron and Dumbledore are actually the same person), and ritual pilgrimages to King’s Cross Station, from where students of magic catch their train to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There’s even a theme park in Florida.
A mixed legacy
This is where the eleven-year-old reader in me – I was eleven when my mother bought me Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone – is forced to make the distinction between my relationship with the stories, and Harry Potter the Phenomenon.
One is a world of escape, the English boarding school novel turned into a bildungsroman of not just friendship, but fantasy and mystery, and the other is a marketing phenomenon. There are immense financial resources that keep the Harry Potter machine rolling, crushing any perceived competition with lawsuits.
A child must grow up and recognise the flaws in that which she loves. I went on to read more sophisticated stories of magic set in England, including the incredible works of historical fantasy writer Susanna Clarke, who has written the tremendous novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and a book of short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu.
But Rowling has been called out for more than what her detractors perceive as simplistic storytelling - a lot of the backlash has been political, such as spoken word poet Rachel Rostad’s searing critique of the character of Cho Chang, which she explains further in another video.
Many have also expressed annoyance at Rowling for claiming that Dumbledore is homosexual as an aside from the books, instead of actually exploring queer and non-normative relationships within the material of the series. These are only two examples of many responses to the works: some of which claim that Harry Potter is deeply conservative, even as others praise the series for portrayals of capable female characters and implicit opposition to racism, slavery, and fascism.
A story without end
Rowling herself continues to inspire everyday engagement from readers through her social media accounts, and an active espousal of progressive politics. Beyond Harry Potter, she has gone on to write in a completely different genre, for a completely different audience.
It must take serious gumption to pick up the pen and attempt to write something new after the astronomical success of Harry Potter, which will most likely never again be replicated in her lifetime, even as it continues to touch children around the world.
I smiled to see a complete set of the Harry Potter series in Hindi on a shelf at the Deepalaya Community Library Project in New Delhi, where I volunteer to help bring the wonder of stories to young children. There has always been something sweet about the thought of an eleven-year-old opening the first book for the first time, reading about the Dursleys of Number Four, Privet Drive, and meeting the boy who lives in the cupboard under their stairs.
The same sweetness comes with the idea that we’re to be given an unprecedented thing: a truly new Harry Potter story from Joanne Rowling after nine years.
She’s written the screenplay writer for a spin-off film trilogy, based on the fictitious textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. She regularly releases new material through the fansite Pottermore, which is dutifully picked up and reported by international media every time it is out.
However, none of this material is a truly substantial addition to, or continuation of Harry Potter’s saga. Newt Scamander, the central figure of the spin-off films, isn’t even a character in the books, and the ‘new stories’ released on Pottermore are actually bits of backstory that Rowling reveals in order to deepen readers’ understanding of already familiar events, such as why the Dursleys dislike Harry Potter quite so much.
For the first time since the series ended, this is very likely about to change. Rowling announced the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on 26 June, the 18th anniversary of the publication of the first Harry Potter book.
This is what we know about it so far: it will debut in London next year, and is the result of a collaboration between Rowling, writer Jack Thorne, and director John Tiffany. It will reveal an “untold part” of Harry Potter’s story, and that it “... will offer a unique insight into the heart and mind of the now legendary young wizard.” Rowling emphasised several times over that it is not a prequel.
She also addressed the question of why the story wasn’t a new novel: “I am confident that when audiences see the play they will agree that it was the only proper medium for the story.”
The question, though: why is Rowling doing this, considering she has been so insistent in the past about not continuing with the series? Perhaps she has either changed her mind about wanting to continue to tell Harry’s story, or that she doesn’t see any of this as being the same as writing a whole new novel in the series.
Cynics may imagine that it’s a way to make even more money off the series, after it has already given Rowling the kind of fame and wealth that the average writer could never expect. Whatever the answer, Rowling’s fandom is still going strong, and those who want more Harry Potter are certainly not complaining.
Fandom
Millions of people are discovering or continuing to engage with its magical world in millions of ways. There are, of course, the blockbuster films which catapulted Dan Radcliffe and Emma Watson’s careers to global prominence. But there are also many textual, physical, and online inroads through which readers to dig deeper into these books they love.
These are examinations of the mythologies used by Rowling, etymological enquiries into character names, alternate versions of the ending, and all kinds of other fan fiction (including my favourite, some rather hilarious erotica). There are serious academic studies of the series, ludicrous fan theories (including one that Ron and Dumbledore are actually the same person), and ritual pilgrimages to King’s Cross Station, from where students of magic catch their train to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There’s even a theme park in Florida.
A mixed legacy
This is where the eleven-year-old reader in me – I was eleven when my mother bought me Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone – is forced to make the distinction between my relationship with the stories, and Harry Potter the Phenomenon.
One is a world of escape, the English boarding school novel turned into a bildungsroman of not just friendship, but fantasy and mystery, and the other is a marketing phenomenon. There are immense financial resources that keep the Harry Potter machine rolling, crushing any perceived competition with lawsuits.
A child must grow up and recognise the flaws in that which she loves. I went on to read more sophisticated stories of magic set in England, including the incredible works of historical fantasy writer Susanna Clarke, who has written the tremendous novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, and a book of short stories, The Ladies of Grace Adieu.
But Rowling has been called out for more than what her detractors perceive as simplistic storytelling - a lot of the backlash has been political, such as spoken word poet Rachel Rostad’s searing critique of the character of Cho Chang, which she explains further in another video.
Many have also expressed annoyance at Rowling for claiming that Dumbledore is homosexual as an aside from the books, instead of actually exploring queer and non-normative relationships within the material of the series. These are only two examples of many responses to the works: some of which claim that Harry Potter is deeply conservative, even as others praise the series for portrayals of capable female characters and implicit opposition to racism, slavery, and fascism.
A story without end
Rowling herself continues to inspire everyday engagement from readers through her social media accounts, and an active espousal of progressive politics. Beyond Harry Potter, she has gone on to write in a completely different genre, for a completely different audience.
It must take serious gumption to pick up the pen and attempt to write something new after the astronomical success of Harry Potter, which will most likely never again be replicated in her lifetime, even as it continues to touch children around the world.
I smiled to see a complete set of the Harry Potter series in Hindi on a shelf at the Deepalaya Community Library Project in New Delhi, where I volunteer to help bring the wonder of stories to young children. There has always been something sweet about the thought of an eleven-year-old opening the first book for the first time, reading about the Dursleys of Number Four, Privet Drive, and meeting the boy who lives in the cupboard under their stairs.
The same sweetness comes with the idea that we’re to be given an unprecedented thing: a truly new Harry Potter story from Joanne Rowling after nine years.
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