Zunar to Join US Colleagues for California Free Expression Conference

What Cannot Be SaidEmbattled Malaysian cartoonist Zunar and four U.S. colleagues will join in a roundtable discussion this Friday at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. The event kicks off a three-day conference called What Cannot Be Said: Freedom of Expression in a Changing World, all of which is free and open to the public.

Zunar will participate in the roundtable along with American editorial cartoonists Steve Brodner, Ann Telnaes, Matt Bors, and Lalo Alcaraz. The discussion will no doubt be an interesting one, what with Zunar currently charged with nine counts of sedition in his home country and Telnaes recently having emerged from a mini-furor over her caricature of Ted Cruz’s daughters, which the Washington Post quickly pulled from its website in the face of criticism last month.

The roundtable will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. this Friday, Jan. 22, in EDU 1111 of UCI’s School of Law. Driving directions and visitor parking information are linked from the conference website. Tickets are free but must be reserved online ahead of time. Attendees can register only for the sessions they wish to attend, but may want to stick around for the whole weekend if possible! Saturday’s events at UCI will include a Google Hangout with Edward Snowden and a panel about freedom of expression on campus, while Sunday’s final session at the University of Southern California brings another panel on religion and freedom of expression, followed by a performance on rap and repression featuring an undisclosed special guest.

The conference is jointly sponsored by 19 departments, colleges, and research centers at UCI, USC, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Help support CBLDF’s important First Amendment work in 2016 by visiting the Rewards Zonemaking a donation, or becoming a member of CBLDF!

Contributing Editor Maren Williams is a reference librarian who enjoys free speech and rescue dogs.