In light of ongoing threats to artistic freedom around the world, PEN America this week announced its new resource called the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC). The project aims to connect threatened artists with “emergency funding, housing opportunities, residencies, fellowships…
Author: Maren Williams
Victory in MN: Annandale Board Rejects Challenge to Alexie Book
In a victory for the freedom to read, the school board in Annandale, Minnesota has chosen to keep Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian in the 9th grade curriculum despite calls from a small group of…
Drama Banned Again in Texas, ACLU Report Shows
For the third time in four years, Raina Telgemeier’s Drama was considered too hot for a Texas school, according to the state ACLU chapter’s latest banned books report which was recently released. In fact, the graphic novel about an adolescent…
Lawsuit Overturns Utah Schools Ban on ‘Advocacy of Homosexuality’
Advocacy groups in Utah settled a discrimination lawsuit against the state last week, after both the legislature and the statewide board of education repealed rules that banned “advocacy of homosexuality” in public schools. In practice the rules had basically quashed…
Florida Superintendent Orders Ban on All Books Judged ‘Inappropriate’
In response to a draconian censorship directive recently issued by the superintendent of schools in Dixie County, Florida, CBLDF this week joined with other member organizations of the Kids’ Right to Read Project in defending vast swathes of library and…
Twelve Cartoons Rejected from European Parliament Exhibition
An exhibition of cartoons by Greek artists to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the European Union was marred last month by the rejection of almost half the works that were to hang in a European Parliament building, on grounds that…
Malaysia Bans Another Zunar Book, Ignoring UN Reprimand
Zunar, the Malaysian cartoonist charged with nine counts of sedition which could net him up to 43 years in prison, got some much-needed international support last month when a United Nations envoy for cultural rights expressed “deep concern” about the…
Pennsylvania School District Retains Handmaid’s Tale on Summer Reading List
School district officials in Wyomissing, PA decided last week to keep The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood as an option on a summer reading list for 11th grade Honors English, despite complaints from parents who called the book “obscene” and…
Graphic Novelist Still Held Without Charge in Equatorial Guinea
Political cartoonist and graphic novelist Ramón Esono Ebalé, who was arrested September 16 in his native country of Equatorial Guinea, remains detained without charge long past the time allowed by law. Although he has been questioned about his work critical…
Banned Books Week News Roundup
Banned Books Week 2017 is wrapping up, and this year the celebration of free expression seems more relevant than ever. In light of recent public debates over speech and counterspeech, the mechanisms of protest, and the flow of information and…