In 1926, with the General Strike looming and the right warning of a Bolshevik revolution, the BBC found itself in a dreadful dilemma. Writer Jack Thorne on why he turned this into ‘a love letter to people in authority’Jack Thorne is a furiously busy scriptwriter and, although he’s celebrated for bringing Harry Potter to the stage and His Dark Materials to the screen, he loves a chewy subject. In recent years, he’s tackled child abuse, the plight of care homes in the pandemic, and a Grenfell-like catastrophe that devastates a community. At the moment, his play The Motive and the Cue, about the famously rocky process of putting together John Gielgud’s production of Hamlet starring Richard Burton, is at the National Theatre in London.He will soon have another play on in the city. When we meet, Thorne – tall, gangly, scrappily bearded, wearing a T-shirt with a printed design that instantly calls to mind the armoured bear in His Dark Materials – is on a break from watching a run-through of his newest work, When Winston Went to War With the Wireless. It stages an early crisis for the BBC that shaped its future and set the tone for the way it handles political pressure to this day. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2023-06-05 07:00:22 UTC ]
Quidditch, a sport invented by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, is rebranding as “quadball” amid controversy over the author’s comments. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-07-20 13:42:04 UTC ]
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People who turned to books during Covid lockdowns continuing to buy them, company saysBloomsbury has reported a record year for sales, as the Harry Potter publisher said the increase in reading during the pandemic had become “permanent” after lockdowns eased.The company benefited substantially... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-06-15 08:09:40 UTC ]
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The acclaimed science-fiction writer turns his hand to nature writing in a book that’s part hiking journal, part history lesson Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-21 11:00:28 UTC ]
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Welcome to Ad Age’s NewFronts 2022 newsletter. We’ll be sharing a daily roundup of events, interviews and sessions from IAB. You can sign up here to get updates delivered to your inbox.Amy Poehler’s Twitch tutorial Comedian Amy Poehler helped Amazon’s pitch to media buyers on Monday, at the... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2022-05-03 23:15:06 UTC ]
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The ‘fascinating insight into what was to become an iconic work’ is the only known surviving copy of its kind and is to be auctioned along with a first edition signed by RowlingA prepublication version of the first Harry Potter book by JK Rowling is expected to fetch at least £20,000 when it is... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-04-26 09:29:11 UTC ]
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Viewers have long complained about the early HBO Max app’s tendency to crash, and its lack of discoverability features. There have been a number of overhauls and fixes since then. Now we know why. Turns out that HBO Max launched its apps before they were ready in order to keep up with its... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-04-14 23:32:58 UTC ]
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Read on for news about DK's 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' encyclopedia, Random House's picture book with Ellen DeGeneres, new Harry Potter publishing from Insight Editions, lucha libre books from Future House and Masked Republic, a Spawn trade publishing program, and more. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Hogwarts Legacy will arrive on PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles in holiday 2022. Hogwarts Legacy was announced in late 2020 and it was originally due to come out in 2021, but was later delayed to 2022. The "holiday" timeframe is one step closer to an actual release... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-03-17 21:18:58 UTC ]
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With help from machine learning software, computer scientists may have unmasked the identity of Q, the founder of the QAnon movement. In a sprawling report published on Saturday, The New York Times shared the findings of two independent teams of forensic linguists who claim they’ve identified... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-02-19 20:56:18 UTC ]
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A narrator can make or break the listening experience. Over several related novels, they can become friend (or foe). Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-01-16 13:00:49 UTC ]
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Filippo Bernardini is accused of stealing manuscripts. For money or just a good read?The theft of books occupies a complex place in our moral judgment, depending on motive. In Markus Zusak’s 2005 novel The Book Thief, the actions of the title character are heroic – she steals books to save them... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2022-01-09 09:30:16 UTC ]
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It was a chance to finally get around to Tolstoy or Proust, but the charts tell a different story. Which books did we actually turn to in the lockdowns? • Let us know in the comments what you were reading Back in spring 2020, when it became clear that coronavirus wasn’t going away, book lovers... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-12-11 09:00:06 UTC ]
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Apparently, J.K. Rowling’s bruised reputation has not lowered the value of her books. Yesterday, a rare first edition of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold at auction for $471,000, which Heritage Auctions says is “the highest price ever paid for the boy wizard’s debut... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-12-10 18:27:50 UTC ]
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Greenpeace ambassador and former Harry Potter star Bonnie Wright's guide to changing habits and living more sustainably has been signed by Quercus imprint Greenfinch. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-19 15:44:54 UTC ]
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Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are reuniting with other cast members from the blockbuster film franchise for a special 20th anniversary TV retrospective, movie studio Warner Bros. said on Tuesday. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2021-11-16 22:10:32 UTC ]
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Interviews Khadija Abdalla Bajaber’s astonishing debut novel, The House of Rust, winner of the inaugural Graywolf Press Africa Prize, arrived in October as if on a magical wave, imbued with an assortment of creatures—human and animal, real and... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-11-15 21:42:08 UTC ]
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Spotify could soon be home to a lot more audiobooks. The streaming service has acquired audiobook platform Findaway, the companies announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition suggests Spotify is looking to build out its own library of audiobook titles.Findaway is an... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2021-11-11 21:00:04 UTC ]
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Writer Emma Forrest is switching from Bloomsbury to Weidenfeld & Nicolson with a new memoir, Busy Being Free, which is billed as "a love letter to being alive or alone". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-11-11 05:07:04 UTC ]
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Twenty years after the release of the first Harry Potter film, does he continue to charm children and adults alike? Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2021-11-09 16:16:49 UTC ]
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Titles such as Tom Kerridge’s latest cookbook prove popular for Bloomsbury during Covid pandemicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBloomsbury, the Harry Potter publisher, has unveiled record sales and profits on the back of the popularity of titles including Tom... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2021-10-27 10:02:41 UTC ]
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