Pottermore Publishing and Storytel have collaborated on new narration of the Harry Potter stories in audio by acclaimed actress Jouman Fattal. The new editions launched with an innovative campaign on the Amsterdam metro.

Twenty years ago, the Dutch Harry Potter audiobooks were first released, narrated by Jan Meng. To celebrate this milestone, new audiobook editions are coming to the market voiced by the actress Jouman Fattal. These are being made available on the Storytel platform, starting 8 July, and releasing every second Wednesday until the seven-book series is available in full.

Jouman, known for her role in the popular series Zuidas, grew up with the audiobooks: ‘Harry Potter has a magical place in my heart. The world of Harry Potter is a safe haven where I, as not an ordinary-looking kid, felt home. Harry Potter is for me not only about a kid who uses magic, it is about everyone who has a different background, less money or in any other way stands out. It’s about friendship and courage, about not being alone in a world which is sometimes hard. I am extremely honoured that with all the love that I feel for the books can tell the story. I hope to give everybody a warm feeling of home’.

Recording the series was quite the undertaking – Jouman spent 220 hours, divided into more than 50 sessions, voicing 431 characters, and had at least 150 cups of tea served in the studio. With the launch of Jouman’s readings, lucky Dutch listeners will now be able to choose from three versions of the audiobooks: hers, the original Dutch recordings by Jan Meng and the English-language audiobooks narrated by Stephen Fry.

Such an exciting new set of audiobooks deserved a fantastic campaign to launch them, with a little bit of magic being brought to the five biggest Amsterdam metro stations. Travelers at Wibautstraat, Weesperplein, Waterlooplein, Nieuwmarkt and Centraal Station were able to hear fragments of audio from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, voiced by Jouman. It was the first time the speakers on the stations have been used for such an activation.

Together with Y Media Generation, Storytel and CS Digital Media came up with this unique idea to play a couple of favourite travel-themed clips from the new recording of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone six times an hour. Even though passengers weren’t on their way to Hogwarts, they were able to hear the enchanting voice of Jouman over the platform speakers and re-live Harry’s first journey to school. To continue their listening journey, passengers could scan one of several QR codes on the outdoor advertising in and around the stations.

What a fitting way to send off these wonderful new audio editions!