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Please welcome another newbie to the Social Media team at Oxford University Press, Estefania Ospina, who joined the gang in August 2015, just two weeks ago, as an OUPblog Deputy Editor and Social Media Manager! You can learn more about Estefania below. When did you start working at OUP? 6 June 2016. What was your first job in publishing? Oxford University Press is my first publishing job;

The post Hey everybody! Meet Estefania! appeared first on OUPblog.

As many fans may know, Hot Topic has been a Harry Potter partner for eons. Okay, maybe not eons, but they have been a place for fans to purchase official Harry Potter merchandise since Harry Potter became a “hot topic” many years ago.

Recently, Hot Topic has started a new brand and initiative called BoxLunch. With only a handful of stores around California and Texas (though, more are coming soon!), Hot Topic’s new brand caters to a slightly different audience than their normal Hot Topic stores. BoxLunch sells similar pop culture merchandise as their Hot Topic parent, but through a partnership with Feeding America, with every $10 a customer spends, BoxLunch helps provide a meal to a person in need.

If there isn’t a store near you, visit the BoxLunch website and “get some–give some.” BoxLunch sells men and women’s apparel, accessories, home decorations, Funko Pop! figures, and more.

To support HotTopic with their new initiative, Leaky is taking part in a BoxLunch give away! Hot Topic and BoxLunch has generously donated a Marauder’s Map trow pillow, Deathly Hallows mini bag, and a $50 gift card! To be put in the running to win one of these fantastic Harry Potter prizes, be the first to answer the following questions correctly. Honesty Policy: try to answer all the questions without cheating–like googling the answers all the questions. Email your answers to [email protected].

1. Who causes the most mischief at Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry?

2. Not completely without loyalty, to which two students did [Answer to Question 1] show respect for during Dolores Umbridge’s attempt to control Hogwarts? (“Give her hell from us…”)

3. What is a Skiving Snackbox? What four types of candies are included?

4. What trick did the Weasley Twins play on their Auntie Muriel that got them written out of her will?

5. What product does the following slogan belong to? “Ruin a gentleman’s day by making his hat fly away!”

6. What is the “Dungbom Rule” that Ron wrote? In which of Harry’s textbooks did he write it?

7. What candy did the Weasley Twins drop for Dudley to eat, and what was the affect?

8. What trick did Harry, Ron, and Hermione play on Crab and Goyle in their quest for Polyjuice Potion ingredients?

9. What spell did Draco use to capture Harry when the Inquisitorial Squad captured members of Dumbledore’s Army?

10. What did Peeves chase Dolores Umbridge with as she fled Hogwarts?

In the meantime! Miss tasting that yummy Butterbeer at the Harry Potter parks? Or can’t go to the parks because they are too far away? Check out BoxLunches new, and available for a limited time only, Butterbeer kit!

More information on purchasing a Butterbeer kit can be found here, on the BoxLunch website.

There is another Harry Potter publishing and merchandising partner coming to brick and mortar stores across the country!

BoxLunch is here to “get some” and “give some”. With only a handful of stores around California and Texas (though, more are coming soon!), the new store caters to a slightly different audience than other Harry Potter merchandise retailers. BoxLunch sells similar pop culture merchandise as seen in other stores, but also, through a partnership with Feeding America, with every $10 a customer spends, BoxLunch helps provide a meal to a person in need.

If there isn’t a store near you, visit the BoxLunch website and “get some–give some.” BoxLunch sells men and women’s apparel, accessories, home decorations, Funko Pop! figures, and more.

To support BoxLunch and their new initiative, Leaky is taking part in a BoxLunch give away! BoxLunch has generously donated a Marauder’s Map trow pillow, Deathly Hallows mini bag, and a $50 gift card! To be put in the running to win one of these fantastic Harry Potter prizes, be the first to answer the following questions correctly. Honesty Policy: try to answer all the questions without cheating–like googling the answers all the questions. Also, please retweet or repost BoxLunch’s post about their new Butterbeer kit (see below)! Email your answers and links to your retweets/reposts to [email protected].

1. Who causes the most mischief at Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry?

2. Not completely without loyalty, to which two students did [Answer to Question 1] show respect for during Dolores Umbridge’s attempt to control Hogwarts? (“Give her hell from us…”)

3. What is a Skiving Snackbox? What four types of candies are included?

4. What trick did the Weasley Twins play on their Auntie Muriel that got them written out of her will?

5. What product does the following slogan belong to? “Ruin a gentleman’s day by making his hat fly away!”

6. What is the “Dungbom Rule” that Ron wrote? In which of Harry’s textbooks did he write it?

7. What candy did the Weasley Twins drop for Dudley to eat, and what was the affect?

8. What trick did Harry, Ron, and Hermione play on Crab and Goyle in their quest for Polyjuice Potion ingredients?

9. What spell did Draco use to capture Harry when the Inquisitorial Squad captured members of Dumbledore’s Army?

10. What did Peeves chase Dolores Umbridge with as she fled Hogwarts?

In the meantime! Miss tasting that yummy Butterbeer at the Harry Potter parks? Or can’t go to the parks because they are too far away? Check out BoxLunches new, and available for a limited time only, Butterbeer kit!

More information on purchasing a Butterbeer kit can be found here, on the BoxLunch website.

This weekend, David Heyman, producer of the Harry Potter films and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, will be honored with the Producers Guild Awards’ David O. Selznick Achievement Award for his work on the eight Harry Potter films, Gravity, Testament of Youth, and Paddington, among others.  In anticipation, Heyman has been interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter for its Jan. 29 issue.

David Heyman is excited to return to the Potterverse with Fantastic Beasts.  After all, he got the film rights to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997, before the book series had become an international phenomenon.  When first talking about what to do next, Heyman and producer Lional Wigram hoped to make a mockumentary about Newt Scamander and his work in magizoology, but J.K. Rowling came back with a plan for a more traditional feature film.  Heyman says,

Jo Rowling created such an incredibly rich and deeply conceived world. What you read in the books is in some ways just the surface of this world. I’d ask her about the [character Sirius Black’s] family tree because we had to paint it on the wall [for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix], and the book only had two names, and half an hour later I’d receive a family tree going back six generations with 100 people. I’m sure Newt Scamander and his story have been in her mind for many years. 

When asked if Fantastic Beasts is designed to be a franchise, Heyman answered conservatively, “We’ve talked about making a couple, but with all these things — and this may be a failing of mine — I don’t look at them as franchises; I look at them as films. We want to make each film as good as we can because if you don’t, you won’t have a second film or a third.”

Congratulations on the David O. Selznick Achievement Award, David Heyman, and thanks for all that you’ve done to bring J.K. Rowling’s books to life on screen!

To read more of the interview, read the Jan. 29 issue of The Hollywood Reporter, or see here.

This weekend, ABC Family is running a marathon of the Harry Potter films.

The first four films ran earlier today, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is on tonight.  Part of the marathon will rerun starting Sunday morning, beginning with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  The rest of the films will run consecutively, with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Parts I and II.

Consider it a nice way to relax and chase away the holiday blues.  Picking up in the middle shouldn’t be a problem:  just pretend you are playing through LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7.

Check your local listings or the ABC Family schedule for exact times.

According to BBC News, a group of more than 60 scholars have congregated at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland to discuss the literary merits of the Harry Potter series over the next two days.

The conference, entitled "A Brand of Fictional Magic: Reading Harry Potter as Literature," will feature over 50 lectures about the series with topics ranging from the role of paganism, British national identity and how death is dealt with in the books. A complete anthology based on this conference is expected to be published in 2013.

Conference organizer, Professor John Patrick Pazdziora, had this to say about putting together such a conference:

"We can't avoid the fact that Harry Potter is the main narrative experience of an entire generation - the children who literally grew up with Harry Potter.

"The Harry Potter novels are simply the most important and influential children's books of the late-20th and early 21st Centuries."

"For very many people, this is their first experience of literature, and of literary art. So they want to think about it, and analyse it, and talk about it."

J.K. Rowling will receive the Freedom of the City of London on Tuesday, May 8 for her services to children's literature, according to a press release from the City of London.

The ceremony will take place at the Mansion House, the official residence of London's Lord Mayor. She will read aloud the Declaration of a Freeman and be presented with a framed parchment certificate.

In a statement, Ms. Rowling spoke of what the award means to her and some special perks:

“Both my parents were Londoners.  They met on a train departing from King’s Cross Station in 1964, and while neither of them ever lived in London again, both their daughters headed straight for the capital the moment that they were independent.  To me, London is packed with personal memories, but it has never lost the aura of excitement and mystery that it had during trips to see family as a child.

“I am prouder than I can say to be given the Freedom of the City, which, on top of all the known benefits (and few people realize this), entitles me to a free pint in The Leaky Cauldron and a ten Galleon voucher to spend in Diagon Alley.”

The Freedom of the City of London can be traced back to 1237. Today, people are presented with the award because it offers them a link with the historic City of London and one of its ancient traditions.

The official Pottermore shop was launched this morning, marking the first time that the Harry Potter books are available to buy in an eBook and digital audio book format.

This will be the only place to purchase digital copies of the Harry Potter series, which will be available in all formats for eReaders, tablets, smartphones and mp3 players.

The eBooks for Years 1-3 are available for $7.99, while Years 4-7 are priced at $9.99. Or, the complete series can be purchased for $57.54.

Digital audio books for Years 1-3 will cost $29.99, and Years 4-7 is priced at $44.99. The complete Harry Potter audio collection can be purchased for $ 242.94.

Even though the Pottermore shop is now open, Pottermore remains in beta. It's expected to open to everyone in April.

As the year draws to an end, Scholastic, US publishers of the Harry Potter novels, have a reminder for us today of the remarkable decade that was, and the amazing impact of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. The sales figures are staggering, but as publisher Arthur A. Levine and VP of Scholastic reminds us, the true magic has been in the reading:

"What the numbers leave out is the singular

Scholastic, the US publishers of the Harry Potter novels, will be releasing a new box set of the series this summer. This new collection, which you can see here in our galleries, is available for pre-order via Barnes and Noble, as well as Walmart.  Included in the collection are the set of US paperback editions of books one through seven, with the box to feature the Deluxe cover from Harry Pott... Read the rest of this post

As reported previously, an exhibition of works by artist Mary GrandPre has now opened at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art in Iowa, and contains highlights of her work done for the US editions of the Harry Potter book series. Today, thanks to TLC staffer Jeff, we can now show you a sample of the many pieces of art in this display, including a first look at an alternative cover for Harry Potter and... Read the rest of this post