CTV.ca has an article out where they discuss the Harry Potter phenomenon.

Potter the phenomenon doesn’t compare for suspense, but like the wizard’s tale, it is unique and extraordinary and well placed in tradition. Like “Star Wars” and “Star Trek,” it is the story of how a work of popular art becomes a world of its own — imitated, merchandised and analyzed, immortalized not by the marketers, but by the fans.

“Around 2000, message boards, mailing lists, blogs were starting to form into the community hubs we have now. So the fans, who were desperately awaiting word on the fifth book … obsessed together on the Internet, writing their own fan fiction, having huge discussions picking every last piece of the canon apart and finding whatever way possible to make the wait tolerable,” says Anelli, who is writing a history of Potter, due out in 2008.

“I think we’ll always have Harry Potter conventions-conferences, and the appeal won’t end once it’s off the `new releases’ shelf,” Anelli says. “The mania will never be this intense again but this series will have life in the real world for a very long time.”

I am proud to say I have been a part of the phenomenon since the first book came out here in the US and I will stay a loyal fan for the rest of my life. How about you guys?

Read the whole thing HERE.