Celebrate Free Speech; Read a Banned Book!

So, here we are, smack dab in the middle of the 30^th annual Banned Books Week, and that makes me wanna shout: “Long live free speech! Hail the enduring power of the pen!”

Well, actually, today it may not be the power of the pen exactly, but it is the power of words and ideas that we celebrate during Banned Books Week. We celebrate the writers who have had the courage to challenge the status quo and offer fresh perspectives for all to consider. We celebrate their innovation, creativity, and fearlessness. We also celebrate those who stood up for these writers, living and dead, and continue to champion the cause of a vibrant, uncensored society in which all are free to express themselves, and all are free to make their own decisions.

As I look over the banned books list, I am always amazed by what’s on it. You have everything from A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen to Ulysses by James Joyce—works that, today, one might think are completely innocuous. However, many books and authors are still being “challenged” today and, in some cases, banned for many of the same reasons Adventures of Huckleberry Finn once was. That is why it is so important to stay vigilant in our support of freedom of expression and the press, and to strongly support the budding crop of writers who are picking up the torch of their fierce predecessors and pushing new boundaries.

Huck and Jim on the
Mississippi River

Begun in 1982 by librarian and director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom Judith Krug, Banned Books Week was designed to not only promote free speech but to encourage everyone to read previously banned and challenged books. In that spirit, Gleeditions is proud to offer many of these progressive works, including

§        A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

§        Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (original, first edition) by Mark Twain

§        “Candide” by F. M. A. de Voltaire

§        The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

§        Tartuffe by Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Molière

Now, doesn't this make you want to pick up or download a banned book today and share it with your friends, kids, students, or even a stranger at Starbucks? Celebrate the courage and conviction of these incredible authors, and continue to promote and defend freedom of speech in America, and everywhere!