Belarus

Belarusian publisher allowed to publish Harry Potter series

22.01.2025

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Januškevič Publishing House, a Belarusian publisher that now operates from Poland, has received permission from the copyright holders of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, as reported on the publishing house’s Facebook page.

 

Earlier, the copyrights holders refused to grant the publishers the right to translate Rowling’s books into Belarusian because of strict international sanctions on Belarus.

 

“No Harry Potter for us (they said). We have not found mutual understanding with the copyrights holders. When Belarus is under sanctions, they do not want to be associated with anything. We explained that we are now under Polish jurisdiction, but it did not help,” the publishing house representative said.

 

The position of the British copyright holders to refuse translation into Belarusian had been well established in the summer of 2024, not only because of the sanctions, but also because of  J. K. Rowling’s view on the issue.

 

“After long negotiations, with the help of colleagues and friends, we managed to overcome the wall of misunderstanding and prove how important it is for Belarusians to be able to read Harry Potter in their native language in the face of oppression of their national culture,” read the publishing house statement.

 

According to the publisher, the new agreement has “rather strict” terms: the books will be available only on a certain list of websites, including that of the Кнігаўка (Knihauka) bookstore in Warsaw, the online store knihauka.com, Polish online marketplace Allegro, and Amazon. Under the agreement, book sales in Belarus and Russia are prohibited. The publishing house may not send books by mail to Belarus.

 

Currently, all rights to the publication have been agreed upon, and the fourth book of the series “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” will soon be released in Belarusian.

The translation was accomplished by Alyona Pyatrovych and edited by Natalia Davydovska. The artwork was created by Brian Selznick with adaptation by Krystyna Ivantsova.

 

The Januškevič team thanked activist and poet Tatsiana Nyadbay and the team of the Belarusian PEN Center, as well as the English PEN and PEN International organizations for their help in negotiations.

 

The publishing house also noted that almost all available financial resources will be used to print new editions of the Harry Potter book series. Other translation projects, including books by Ray Bradbury, Jorge Luis Borges, Rebecca Kwan, Ayn Rand, Frank Herbert, and many other famous authors, have been postponed “until better times.”

 

In 2021, the Januškevič Publishing House became a target for persecution by the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, self-proclaimed President of the country.

 

RELATED: The war in Ukraine vs. the war in the Harry Potter world

 

Main image: bellit.info

Copy editing: Ben Angel