Censorship

In Toronto, the principal of a public elementary school recently invited parents to participate in a “library audit.” Parents were given a copy of the Toronto District School Board’s Equity Toolkit, and they were told to evaluate library books according to a checklist. Ira Wells, an assistant professor of literature at the University of Toronto, took part in the audit.

A new history of Roman Catholic censorship is on the market. The Index of Prohibited Books: Four Centuries of Struggle over Word and Image for the Greater Glory of God appeared this year. Robin Vose, the book’s author, teaches at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

PEN America has identified the 50 books that were most frequently challenged or banned in the 2021–22 school year.   CBS News briefly profiles each book (and links to PEN America’s report):

The attempted murder of Salman Rushdie, the internationally acclaimed author and defender of free expression, in Chautauqua, New York, on August 12, 2022, prompted writers around the world to comment.

Historically, stand-up comedy has pushed expressive boundaries and found itself at the forefront of battles over free expression. In Part 1 of this series, I made the case that stand-up comedy, even the deliberately offensive kind, can tell us something important about free expression.

In Vancouver, students at Eric Hamber Secondary School have prepared a bill to protect the interests of student journalists in British Columbia. Spencer Izen and Jessica Kim, who produce the school’s newspaper, The Griffin’s Nest, sent the Student Press Freedom Act to David Eby, B.C.’s attorney general. They hope the legislature will enact the bill into law.