Banned books take the stage

Banned Books reading by NC State students

Maya Angelou. Toni Morrison. Alice Walker. All authors of color—and all whose work is frequently banned.

Over half of all banned books are by authors of color or contain events concerning diverse communities. That’s according to the American Library Association (ALA), sponsor of the annual Banned Books Week (September 25-October 1), a national celebration of and focus upon literature facing censorship, as well as the intellectual freedom issues around it.

Since 2011, the NCSU Libraries has celebrated Banned Books Week with “Banned Books Onstage,” an annual staged reading of scenes and monologues from banned and challenged books. This year's selections highlight writers of color whose work has been banned or challenged. Featuring student performers, the free, public event takes place on Tuesday, September 27, from 7:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. in the Studio Theatre in Thompson Hall.

The event is co-presented by the NCSU Libraries, University Theatre, and the Alpha Psi Omega (ΑΨΩ) National Theatre Honor Society.

While many current NC State students might associate book-banning with bygone eras, it routinely continues throughout the United States. In what became a high-profile battle in 2013, the Randolph County (NC) School Board ordered Ralph Ellison’s classic Invisible Man removed from school libraries after a parent found its language and sexual content objectionable. Only after public outcry from teachers and parents, and national attention on sites like gawker.com, did the board reverse its decision and restore the book to libraries and the county’s summer reading list.

Within the last several years, books by other authors of color which have been banned include Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings’ I Am Jazz, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, and Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

“Banned Books Week is important because it gives us a chance to recognize and appreciate the importance of intellectual freedom,” says Darby Madewell, an organizer of and performer in “Banned Books Onstage,” and an Electrical Engineering junior. “This year, we get to focus on the importance of diversity as well.”

“Approximately 50% of banned books are written by authors of color or contain diverse content, while only something like 15% of books published per year are written by authors of color. Why are books by colored authors so disproportionately banned?” Madewell adds.

The top ten most challenged books of 2015, as compiled by the ALA, are:

  1. Looking for Alaska, by John Green (Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group)
  2. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James (Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and other: “poorly written,” “concerns that a group of teenagers will want to try it”)
  3. I Am Jazz, by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings (Reasons: Inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group)
  4. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, by Susan Kuklin (Reasons: Anti-family, offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other: “wants to remove from collection to ward off complaints”)
  5. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon (Reasons: Offensive language, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other: “profanity and atheism”)
  6. The Holy Bible (Reasons: Religious viewpoint)
  7. Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel (Reasons: Violence and other: “graphic images”)
  8. Habibi, by Craig Thompson (Reasons: Nudity, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group)
  9. Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan, by Jeanette Winter (Reasons: Religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group, and violence)
  10. Two Boys Kissing, by David Levithan (Reasons: Homosexuality and other: “condones public displays of affection”)