It has been announced that Canongate Books will publish The Diaries of Alan Rickman in autumn 2022. The diaries of the late actor – 27 handwritten volumes of his “witty, gossipy and utterly candid” thoughts about his career and life spanning more than 25 years – are going to be edited down into a single book.
Alan Rickman, who portrayed Severus Snape in the eight Harry Potter films, began writing the diaries by hand in the early 1990s, with the intention that they would one day be published. He continued to keep diaries over the next 25 years, and he wrote right until his death in 2016, from pancreatic cancer at the age of 69.
“I’m delighted that Canongate will be publishing Alan’s diaries, and couldn’t have wished for a finer appointment of editor than Alan Taylor,” said Rima Horton, Rickman’s widow, who was with him since 1965. “The diaries reveal not just Alan Rickman the actor, but the real Alan – his sense of humour, his sharp observation, his craftsmanship and his devotion to the arts.” Taylor told The Guardian that Rickman’s diaries were “anecdotal, indiscreet, witty, gossipy and utterly candid, they make compulsive reading and offer a peerless insight into the daily life of a remarkable actor who was as beloved in the US as he surely was in the UK.” Simon Thorogood, editorial director at Canongate, who bought the rights at auction, said that Rickman “fans everywhere are in for a rare treat”.
For the Harry Potter fans, the book will be a incredible read since it will include behind-the-scenes stories of his time on stage and on screen, including tales from the Harry Potter set, where he worked for a decade, between 2001 and 2011.
