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Banned Books Week: 2022

Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & Fiction,
red orange yellow flames with banned books
During Banned Books Week we celebrate freedom of speech and freedom to read

Over the centuries, various forms of expression have been banned or destroyed, and their creators have been censored, imprisoned, tortured, killed, exiled. It is the mission and responsibility of libraries to present multifarious viewpoints, and that is why the American Library Association joins other organizations to support Banned Books Week. During Banned Books Week, we celebrate freedom of speech and freedom to read.


Loud and Clear: Writers Who Found Ways to Express Themselves


Book cover for 120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature
120 Banned Books: Censorship Histories of World Literature
Karolides, Nicholas J.

Censored books fall into four subject areas: political, religious, sexual, and social. This book traces the censorship histories of 120 books from around the world, providing summaries of the books and reasons for them being censored.


Book cover for Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality
Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality
Brown-Nagin, Tomiko

Among the many “firsts” in the life of Constance Baker Motley, she was the first Black woman appointed as a federal judge and the first Black woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Throughout her life, she fought for equality and justice for all and knew that inequality of any type was a barrier to freedom of expression.


Book cover for Dangerous Ideas: A Brief History of Censorship in the West, From the Ancients to Fake News
Dangerous Ideas: A Brief History of Censorship in the West, From the Ancients to Fake News
Berkowitz, Eric

When freedom of speech is restricted, then freedom of thought and freedom of expression are in peril, which includes the written word. Historian Eric Berkowitz examines the history of censoring speech and how it has impacted people’s lives over the centuries.


Book cover for First to Fall: Elijah Lovejoy and the Fight for a Free Press in the Age of Slavery
First to Fall: Elijah Lovejoy and the Fight for a Free Press in the Age of Slavery
Ellingwood, Ken

Elijah Lovejoy was a Presbyterian minister, newspaper editor, and temperance crusader. Prior to the Civil War he became a staunch abolitionist, and as the owner of two newspapers his offices and printing presses were vandalized. While guarding a new press in a warehouse he was killed by an angry mob.


Book cover for Free the Press: The Death of American Journalism and How to Revive It
Free the Press: The Death of American Journalism and How to Revive It
Karem, Brian J.

Veteran reporter Brian J. Karem examines the challenges facing journalists (in print, television and social media) in how to provide clear information about what takes place in government. He offers workable solutions to how this can be accomplished.


Book cover for 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: A Memoir
1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: A Memoir
Ai, Weiwei

Ai Weiwei is one of China’s most famous and infamous internationally known artists. On April 3, 2011, as he was about to fly out of Beijing's Capital Airport, he states, " ...a swarm of plainclothes police descended on me, and for the next eighty-one days I disappeared into a black hole." The title of the book is part of a poem written by his father, Ai Qing, who was imprisoned during the Cultural Revolution in China. This book is a memoir about his father, himself, his country, and the necessity for freedom of expression everywhere in the world.


Book cover for The Satanic Verses
The Satanic Verses
Rushdie, Salman

The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie was published in 1988. The title refers to a group of verses in the Quran about three pagan Mecca goddesses. At the time, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa that ordered Muslims to kill Rushdie, and Rushdie went into hiding and was under constant protection. In August, 2022, while at a public reading, he was attacked with a knife.


Book cover for Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times
Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times
Nafisi, Azar

Literature plays a major role in freedom of expression. Azar Nafisi, professor, and writer, presents her thoughts in a series of letters to her late father, who was the Mayor of Tehran. In examining the books of selected writers, she urges us to examine the motivations of those who stand in the way of freedom of expression. At the same time, she cautions us not to replicate the behavior of those who seek to suppress this precious freedom.


Book cover for The Republic of False Truths
The Republic of False Truths
Aswānī, ʻAlāʼ

The books of renowned Egyptian novelist Alaa Al Aswany have been translated into 30 languages and published in more than 100 countries all over the world. However, his books have been banned in Egypt and a great many places in the Arab world. This novel is a satiric look at a modern repressive government that is thrown into turmoil when a revolution takes place.


Book cover for Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller
Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller
Wassef, Nadia

Starting an independent bookstore is no easy task, but doing so in modern Egypt had more than the usual obstacles, especially one opened by three women, and because of the type of books they sold.


Book cover for The Story of the Banned Book: Naguib Mahfouz's Children of the Alley
The Story of the Banned Book: Naguib Mahfouz's Children of the Alley
Shuʻayr, Muḥammad

Since it was first published in Egypt in 1959, Naguib Mahfouz's novel Children of the Alley has been controversial: banned; allowed to be sold; sold under the counter; pirated; illegally reprinted, and the author’s life was threatened. This book examines that history and opens “... a window onto some of the fiercest debates around culture and religion to have taken place in Egyptian society over the past half-century.”


Book cover for Ulysses
Ulysses
Joyce, James

2022 marked the 100th anniversary of the publication of this novel by James Joyce. Since its first publication it has been burned and banned. All of this was based on charges of obscenity.


Resources:

The following watchdog organizations provide continuous information about writers and others who are being censored, tortured, jailed, or exiled. You can stay informed by subscribing to their emails.


 

 

 

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