More used to performing magic than most, JK Rowling, author of the renowned Harry Potter series, has announced the publication of a new book, The Ickabog, during lockdown.
The book, the first instalment of which was published yesterday afternoon, is a fairy tale, which Rowling states is “about truth and the abuse of power”. According to the author, the manuscript has been gathering dust in her attic for over a decade.
The Ickabog is to be released as a serial, over the next 34 days. It will be published formally in November, and the royalties of which will be used to aid those who have suffered as a result of the pandemic. Yesterday, Rowling referred to the text as “a story that belonged to my two younger children, because I’d read it to them in the evenings when they were little, which has always been a happy family memory”.
Rowling notes that as the idea came to her over a decade ago, it is not “intended to be read as a response to anything that’s happening in the world right now”.
She continued: “The themes are timeless and could apply to any era or any country.”
This is not the first time the book has been discussed, having alluded to it in a 2009 interview as a “political fairytale ... for slightly younger children”.
Rowling states that the book had been written alongside Harry Potter, though it is based in an entirely different universe. Following the publication of her more adult novels, The Casual Vacancy and The Cuckoo’s Calling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith she made the decision to “step away from children’s books for a while”.
The writer is asking children to submit illustrations for inclusion in the November print of the book. She states: “I want to see imaginations run wild! Creativity, inventiveness and effort are the most important things: we aren’t necessarily looking for the most technical skill.”
