A Dance With Dragons has a release date according to EW and the publisher:

Yes, we swear, after waiting six long years since the release of the last novel in the saga, the fabled Book 5 A Dance With Dragons is close enough to being finished* for Martin’s publisher to set a release date. We have that date, exclusively, along a first look at the book’s cover art and an interview with the man himself.

A Dance With Dragons will be published on July 12.

But should we believe this publication date without confirmation from the author? Well, we have confirmation:

Yes, I know. You’ve all seen publication dates before: dates in 2007, 2008, 2009. None of those were ever hard dates, however. Most of them… well, call it wishful thinking, boundless optimism, cockeyed dreams, honest mistakes, whatever you like.

This date is different. This date is real.

Barring tsunamis, general strikes, world wars, or asteroid strikes, you will have the novel in your hands on July 12. I hope you like it.

 With the HBO series coming out in April, 2011 might just be the year of George R. R. Martin