Friday, September 25, 2009

For Zealots and Bigots on Banned Books Week

It's Banned Books Week in the US, an annual event which celebrates the freedom to read, and highlights the harms of censorship and actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. (The map here shows the individual incidents across the country.)

Ellen Hopkins, an author of young adult fiction (who had an event cancelled a few days ago after a parent complained about her New York Times bestselling novels Crank and Glass) has written a poem addressed to :
... zealots and bigots and false
patriots who live in fear of discourse
You screamers and banners and burners
who would force books off shelves
in your brand of greater good.
The American Library Association has also produced this charming video to publicise Banned Books Week :

8 comments:

Kenny Mah said...

And one day all books will be the same. Have the same title and the same words inside of them, sanitised and safe for our children, but who, then, will save them from this book?

Crankster said...

Funny, I just blogged about banned books just now.

Crankster said...

Oh, and your Banned Books Week link can't be accessed without a little tweaking.

bibliobibuli said...

thanks Crankster. some extra code got added. fixed now.

FdausAmad said...

geng,
gua nak ajak lu dtg lepak blg gua.Rilek rilek beb.
selambe..

Oxymoron said...

At the same time, I believe there should be a rating for books. I should be protected from reading something that will make me wanna puke!

bibliobibuli said...

being made to puke is your right!

how would anyone know anyway what might trigger that response in you?

Oxymoron said...

If movies and cds and computer games can have warnings, why not books?