Referred to as “Watergate at the high school level” by attendees of the National Council of Teachers of English during a 1975 convention, at its core The Chocolate War (1974) is a brilliantly-crafted novel that focuses on the issues of conformity and the use of coercion to enforce cultural norms. A New...
Being that these are the final days of Black History Month 2012, I thought it wise to share a news story that is also sadly apropos to the subject of censorship. Prison officials in Alabama have banned a book detailing how the American South established a form of de facto...
The classic novel, “Ulysses,” by Irish author James Joyce, celebrated its 90th birthday on February 2. Widely-regarded as one of the greatest novels of all time, it even initiated the creation of an international holiday, Bloomsday, celebrated annually on June 16th. It is a staple of many an English Literature course,...
To “rush through the yellow light” is a reference to a common practice for the more daring Chinese journalists who write about sensitive topics before the state flashes the red light of censorship. That’s what happened to “The Fat Years,” a dystopian thriller by Chan Koon-Chung, which is now...
Most people are familiar with the classic saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” uttered by George Santayana. He, himself, identified as an American and wrote exclusively in English, but the famous philosopher was born in Madrid and was a lifelong Spanish citizen even...
Last week I reported that the Plymouth-Canton Schools in Michigan resolved a challenge to the book Beloved; but the same parents that objected to that title also have their torches aimed at another novel- Waterland, by Graham Swift. And so it is that Graham Swift becomes the latest casualty...
Students at the Plymouth-Canton Schools in Michigan got a crash course in politics this week. That’s because one family launched an official complaint on December 20, 2011 to have the fictional novel Beloved, by Toni Morrison, banned from the AP English curriculum due to racial themes, sexual content, and...
The campaign against freedom doesn’t just limit itself to the literary classics of Shakespeare and Mark Twain. Works of fiction and non-fiction, both traditional and contemporary, are recurrent fodder for the flames. But did you know that even comic books are kindling for the fires of ignorance? Edited by...
As the story for my next book, A World of Ash, continues to take shape I thought I’d share the prologue from the book. As with all things of a creative nature this is a work in progress and nothing is set in stone until the day of publication....
Post-Civil War America may be in the history books, but the ignorance and prejudice of ages past is alive and well here in the 21st century. As the Banned Books Awareness project continues it never ceases to amaze me the sheer number of books on censorship lists, nor the...