Rowling Studies Podcast – Sark, Snark and Censorship

Join John and Nick as they explore the strange and quirky island of Sark, take a look at the latest J. K. Rowling twitter storms and stand in admiration of her heroic stand against judicial free-speech suppression in Scotland. Sark, Snark and Censorship.

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File:Brecqhou - Barclay Brothers Castle.jpg

The Barclay Brothers Faux Gothic Castle on Brecqhou -Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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Roses from Rowling – A Solution at Last!

Wizarding News™ on X: "Harry Potter author JK Rowling sent ...Way back in December 2021 I posted about the enduring mystery of the roses that were sent to Marilyn Manson nearly a year before. 

My conjecture then was:

1. Assistance in developing or correcting the occult/demonic/satanic aspects of Troubled Blood. He doesn’t appear in the acknowledgments, but perhaps this is understandable given Rowling’s experience of the American evangelical backlash to Potter.

2. Thanks for supporting Johnny Depp, or in response to Manson’s thanks to Rowling for standing with him.

3. Something to do with The Ink Black Heart.

None were particularly compelling, and The Ink Black Heart turned out to be a bust. Much like the mystery of the 50 roses in Career of Evil I had assumed this may be a mystery that would never be solved. That was until last Sunday, when at last there was a plausible explanation.

A Twitter user posted that the roses were for the 1980’s British and Jamaican pop singer Marilyn. Marylin has been a long time supporter of J. K. Rowling and has received more than a little push back from fellow gender non-conforming men as a result.

The story goes that the error was made (presumably by her office, Marilyn not exactly well known outside of his fanbase) and Rowling contacted him to apologise. The story was related by Marilyn himself during a Twitter space, and has this Rowling student convinced. Let me know in the comments what you think, does this close the case?

 

Rowling Dares Scotland’s Government to Throw Her in Jail for Her Hate Crimes

It started last month.

Rowling promised a legislator that warned her she would be prosecuted for hate crimes if she continued to call “transgender women” men, i.e., stating a biological fact, that she would be prosecuted in April for committing a hate crime under a new law in Scotland.

Rowling promised him the “mother of all April Fool’s jokes” if he seriously thought she was going to stop speaking the truth for fear of incarceration. [Read more…]

Netflix Narnia in the Works, Yet Another Attempt to Adapt

Book adaptations are popular commodities in the streaming world, and some are better and more faithful than others. Disney+ just recently released the first season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, a satisfying and well-done series with a great cast that is true enough to the text to satisfy readers while also paced and editedThe Chronicles of Narnia Series and Films Being Developed by Netflix appropriately to keep up screen momentum. Amazon Prime’s Wheel of Time, by contrast, is a sleek and sexy series that Robert Jordan, may he rest in peace, would not recognize as having much in common with his behemoth book series. It is no surprise, then, that Netflix already has its hooks in The Chronicles of Narnia. Although the streaming giant has had the rights to the series for years, it look like it is actually now planning to put a Narnia adaptation into production, and there are those who are excited for the series as well as those who are less than enthusiastic about what this adaptation may entail. After the jump, let’s look at some of the previous attempts at Narnia adaptations and ponder some of the news that we have so far about the Netflix project.

[Read more…]

Beatrice Groves – The Hallmarked Man

J. K. Rowling has revealed the title to Strike 8 whilst sharing her appreciation for her visit to Sark:

This was followed later by a change in header, very quickly identified by Pools of The Strike and Ellacott Files as an early 20th century hallmarked silver Neff. A decorative sailing ship used as a container in grand dining rooms from the 13th century onwards.

Beatrice Groves, Research Fellow and tutor at Trinity College, Oxford, and author of  Literary Allusion in Harry Potter, has written a Hogwarts Professor Guest Post: The Hallmarked Man. Join Dr Groves after the jump for an exploration of hallmarks, saints and Sark!

[Read more…]