According to the Ellsworth American in Maine, Bookstores are gearing up for the launch of OotP just like the rest of the world. The articles includes information about midnight parties which we will include in our forthcoming list.

The Nimbus 2003 T-shirt and Program Cover Art Contest deadline is tomorrow. Entries must be sent as a URL to [email protected]. Also, tomorrow is the last day to register at $149.75 – as of Friday it goes up to $179.75.

Between now and June 1st we will be launching a comprehensive Web site containing all you need to know about the launch for Book 5 events – but we still need your help connecting information! Follow these links to help us find out about events at your local bookstores and libraries – spread the word!

As we suspected would happen, a WB source has confirmed that there is there is no truth to the rumors about Voldemort and Frank Bryce being cast. A director must be chosen for the fourth movie before anyone is cast. We still have a year for the third film’s release! And a Trelawney to find!

Fiona Shaw, best known for her role as Aunt Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, is up for a Tony in the category “Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play” for her role in Medea.

There’s Wicked Whispers in today’s Daily Mail about the cast from the Harry Potter films attempts to get a hold of Book 5: The regular cast of the Harry Potter films has been rebuffed, after asking for preview copies of the new J. K. Rowling book, The Order Of The Phoenix, due out next month. …read more!

According to the Bristol Evening Post, Bloomsbury plans on publishing both a Latin version (titled “Harrius Potter Et Philosophi Lapis”) and Welsh version (titled “Harri Potter Maen Yr Atbronydd”) of Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone this July. Here’s a cute example of the first line of the book in latin: “Dominus et Domina Dursley, …read more!

There’s an article in this week’s Publishers Weekly that discusses how smart the timing of “Order of the Phoenix” is and how carefully Scholastic has planned the release.

Menlo Park’s Almanac has an article about the Las Lomitas Education Foundation‘s Hoedown – their 18th annual auction and fundraising event being held May 17th at Portola Farms – will be auctioning off a special Harry Potter treat: A read-into-the-night sleepover in the La Entrada school library on the night of the release of the …read more!

Today’s Guardian has a great roundup of authors, writers and artists accused of “copying” someone elses material or taking action over being copied themselves. It includes a list of J.K. Rowling’s recent troubles: JK Rowling was accused of violating the intellectual property rights of Nancy K Stouffer, who believed her book The Legend of Rah …read more!