Malaysian artist Fahmi Reza is facing sedition charges for depicting Prime Minister Najib Razak in clown makeup, an image that originally appeared online but has since proliferated in street art throughout the capital of Kuala Lumpur. After learning of those…
Author: Maren Williams
Pasco County Schools Will Clarify Review Procedure for Challenged Books
To clear up confusion that came to light during a recent challenge to Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, school district officials in Pasco County, Florida plan to clarify the reach of decisions made by school-level review committees.…
Henning School Board Restores This One Summer to Library, with Restrictions
The school board in Henning, Minnesota voted 4-2 last night to allow Jillian and Mariko Tamaki’s This One Summer back on library shelves at the district’s single K-12 school–with a few conditions. The book must be shelved in a separate…
South Africans Debate Legacy of Racist Imagery in Political Cartoon
One of South Africa’s most well-known political cartoonists has become embroiled in controversy since the publication of a cartoon with what he said were unintended racist overtones. The cartoon by Zapiro, AKA Jonathan Shapiro, depicts the country’s top prosecutor Shaun…
CBLDF Podcast Episode 17: CHUCK PALAHNIUK
In this episode, we speak with author Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club, Fight Club 2, Choke), who has just completed adapting Fight Club 2 as a graphic novel with artist Cameron Stewart. Topics: Kolchak the Night Stalker, EC Comics, radiation poisoning, and…
Ten Challenged or Banned Comics for Your Summer Reading List
Happy Memorial Day! With summer unofficially underway, here are some challenged and banned comics to read at the beach or on those lazy backyard hammock days. 1. Bone by Jeff Smith • Synopsis: Three creatures known as the Bones, who are outcast…
Perks of Being a Wallflower Returns to High School Classrooms in Pasco County
Pasco County, Florida superintendent of schools Kurt Browning has decided not to ban Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower district-wide, following a review committee’s vote earlier this week to remove it from one middle school. Although the review…
Perks of Being a Wallflower Banned in Florida Middle School
A review committee in Pasco County, Florida voted to ban Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower from a middle school yesterday after two parents complained about the book’s references to sex, drugs, and drinking. Pending further district-wide review,…
CBLDF Joins Defense of This One Summer in MN School
CBLDF this week signed on to a letter from the National Coalition Against Censorship’s Kids’ Right to Read Project urging the school district in Henning, Minnesota, to restore Jillian and Mariko Tamaki’s graphic novel This One Summer to library shelves, and…
Iranian Cartoonists’ Association Becomes Tool for “Suppression and Prevention”
Iran’s House of Cartoon is currently hosting a deliberately provocative Holocaust Cartoon Contest, which organizers say is intended in part to test the boundaries of free expression in the opposite extreme from the Muhammad caricatures in Charlie Hebdo and events…