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Category Archives: Freedom of Speech
La Biblioteca del Mondo
Umberto Eco: A Library of the World is a wonderful new documentary about the bestselling Italian author with perhaps the greatest intellectual appetite of any writer of his time. Directed by Davide Ferrario, the documentary will launch in the U.S. beginning … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Europe, Freedom of Speech, Libraries, Writing
Tagged Documentary, Italy, Umberto Eco
1 Comment
Fat-Headed Censors
You would have to have been living under a basket to avoid the recent brouhaha over the re-editing of classic books by so-called sensitivity readers and editors. Here in the Colonies we’ve been through this with the books of Dr. … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Books, Europe, Freedom of Speech, Libraries, USA, Writing
Tagged censorship, Dr. Seuss, McSweeney's, Roald Dahl
7 Comments
The Right to Read
In response to the ongoing rightwing hysteria of school students free access to books Federal legislation was introduced last week that would expand access to school libraries and codify student First Amendment Rights. The Right to Read Act (S. 5064 and H.R. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Freedom of Speech, Libraries, USA, Writing
Tagged book banning, censorship
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get up because a woman is here rising
Watching the courageous young women and men in Iran rise up against their oppressive fundamentalist government I was reminded of the tragic Persian poet Forough Farrakhzad. Sometimes referred to as “the Persian Sylvia Plath,” although she was a contemporary of … Continue reading
when the dying speak, they cannot lie
I was sad to read of the passing of the great English author Hilary Mantel. Here in the colonies we became acquainted with her powerful prose through the Wolf Hall trilogy. I thought that I would share this piece from Hilary Mantel’s essay … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Europe, Freedom of Speech, History, Theater, Writing
Tagged Henry VIII, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
7 Comments
It’s That Time of the Year Again
Forty years after Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 to raise awareness about censorship, the issue has taken on new importance across the country. This year more than ever it’s essential that we raise awareness about book banning and … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Freedom of Speech, Libraries, USA
Tagged book banning, censorship, Reading
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The Very Definition of Irony
Even if you do not live in North America you are probably aware that the United States has been experiencing a wave of book bannings and attempts by a vocal neo-Fascist Christian Nationalist minority to censor both library books … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Freedom of Speech, History, Libraries, USA, Writing
Tagged censorship, racism, Texas
1 Comment
To Live Deliberately
Writer, philosopher, and naturalist Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817, in Concord, Massachusetts. Associated with the Concord-based literary movement called New England Transcendentalism, he embraced the Transcendentalist belief in the universality of creation and the primacy of personal … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Freedom of Speech, History, USA, Writing
Tagged Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau, Philosophy, Transendentalism, Walden
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Why Orwell’s 1984 Still Matters
Each year around this time someone remembers that George Orwell’s iconic novel Nineteen Eighty- Four was first released in June of 1949. I think that bringing attention to the book is always a valuable exercise, now more than ever. Ironically, in … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Europe, Film, Freedom of Speech, History, movies, Writing
Tagged 1984, Eric Blair, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
3 Comments
Banned But Unburnable
To protest widespread book bans in the U.S., Canadian author Margaret Atwood has collaborated with her publishers on a fireproof edition of her most famous—and often banned—novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. The unique issue was produced by Rethink, an independent creative agency, and made in … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Canada, Freedom of Speech, USA, Writing
Tagged book burning, censorship, Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
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