A new infographic from PEN, an international NGO that aids writers threatened with arrest, prosecution, or violence, shows that government repression of speech is increasingly focused online. PEN found 92 writers around the world currently imprisoned or in detention for…
Author: Maren Williams
Student Defenders of Persepolis Recognized by Illinois Library Association
The plaudits continue for Chicago high school students who loudly and effectively protested their school district’s muddled ban of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis last spring. At its recent annual conference, the Illinois Library Association presented this year’s Intellectual Freedom Award to…
Cartoonist Zunar Loses Appeal Over Wrongful Arrest
A Malaysian political cartoonist who was arrested and charged with sedition just before the publication of his 2010 book has lost an appeal of his suit against the government for wrongful arrest. Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, better known by the pen…
Pennsylvania School District Quashes Challenge to Curious Incident
Despite a recent challenge due to profanity, Mark Haddon’s critically-acclaimed novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will remain on a high school summer reading list in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. According to the Scranton Times-Tribune, a parent…
Yertle the Turtle Quote Again Allowed in BC Schools
More than a year after a quote from the Dr. Seuss classic Yertle the Turtle was banned from classrooms in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a settlement has been reached allowing teachers to bring Yertle back to school. The ban arose…
Massachusetts Library Survey Reveals Challenges to Comics
A recent exhaustive survey of challenges and bans of materials in Massachusetts public libraries has uncovered a few cases involving comics and graphic novels — as well as a major shortcoming in the state’s public records law, which allows libraries…
Mockingbird Restored in Plaquemines Parish Schools
Victory in Louisiana! Just over a week after the Plaquemines Parish School District reinstated a previously imposed ban on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the book was restored to classrooms after a special school board meeting last night. According…
Alamogordo Teachers, Librarian Speak Out On Neverwhere
With Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere currently suspended from classroom use at Alamogordo (New Mexico) High School, English teachers and the school’s librarian are speaking out to make it clear that the book has not been removed from the library and that…
Cannes Winner Based on Graphic Novel Won’t Play in Idaho
Idaho residents anxious to see the film Blue is the Warmest Color, the 2013 winner of the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or that is based on a French graphic novel, will likely have to travel out of state or wait…
To Kill a Mockingbird Re-banned in Louisiana School District
After a convoluted series of events spanning at least a decade, the school board in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana last week removed Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird from classrooms throughout the district. After some parents of high school…