JK Rowling to Speak at Harvard Commencement

Hogwarts creator will get honorary degree
By Lucas Laursen,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2008 4:54 AM CST
JK Rowling to Speak at Harvard Commencement
Author J. K. Rowling signs a copy of her book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" in New Orleans, Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007. Rowling will speak at Harvard's 2008 commencement. (AP Photo/Bill Haber,File)   (Associated Press)

Harvard students will get a Hogwarts send-off at their spring commencement this year, reports the Crimson, with Harry Potter author JK Rowling as the keynote speaker.  "Perhaps no one in our time has done more than JK Rowling to inspire young people to experience the excitement and the sheer joy of reading,” said the university's president.

Rowling, who is purported to be the first author to earn more than $1 billion, will also get an honorary degree from Harvard at the June graduation. Her seven-book series has sold more than 375 million copies since 1997, and has been translated into 65 languages. Hundreds of Harvard students lined up at a local bookstore to buy her seventh book the day it was released last summer. (More Harry Potter stories.)

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