Alex Dimitrov Reads Allen Ginsberg
In celebration of this year's Banned Books Week, Alex Dimitrov reads "I Am Not" and "Personals Ad" by the frequently-banned Allen Ginsberg. More
PEN Members Reading at Paradise Banned Event
On Monday, September 30, PEN partnered with the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression for readings in celebration of PEN's Banned Book Month. Reading the poets whose work have been… More
On Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn
It’s a luxury in our country that banning books is by and large an academic argument...[W]hen we have a discussion of “banned” books in this country, what we are… More
School board relents: Invisible Man is “vulgar,” but it’s back on the shelves
Wednesday night, the Randolph County School Board reversed its ban on Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man, just nine days after they had removed the book from school library shelves. More
Wish You Were Here: The Perks of Being Banned
The humanities are in crisis, they say, and I am telling you this because the banning of books is another kind of restricted access: If you reduce the amount… More
2013 Banned Books Month
Staring on Monday, September 23, PEN will begin posting essays from this year’s Banned Books Month, featuring PEN members, supporters, and staff—writers and editors of all backgrounds and genres—who… More
On Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”
I saw, for the first time, what it really means to be a poet—to have the habit of mind where the universe reveals itself through linguistic forms the way,… More
Final Words: Book Banning Is Not Dead
In April of 2011, a visit with a close friend sparked the same question that was asked each time we were together: What are you working on now? I… More
On William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying
While ideological book banning is infuriating, banning out of ignorance and vague religiosity are, to me, even more galling. William Faulkner’s classic, As I Lay Dying, has been banned… More
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