Russia in Between Security and Democracy
The book market is not noticeably being censored. What is evident, however, is that innovative and controversial literature is being plucked out of the canon (thereby causing it to… More
What is the Literary Scene in Russia Like Today?
The literary process is now organized as show business, with flashy presentations and contests, ratings, quizzes, and so on. Serious authors conduct TV shows and even advertise consumer goods. More
Chilling Effects: NSA Surveillance Drives U.S. Writers to Self-Censor
The results of PEN America and the FDR group's survey demonstrate that writers are not only overwhelmingly worried about government surveillance, but are engaging in self-censorship as a result. More
Tyranny of Parents: Banning Shel Silverstein
Warning: What you are about to read contains profanity, vile, morbid, and anti-parent material, suggestive illustrations, subliminal messages that glorify Satan, suicide, cannibalism, disrespect for truth and legitimate authority,… 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
Immunization Through Fear: Banning R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps
I assert that the original Goosebumps series and all the subsequent spin-offs are so popular (over 300 million sold, making Stine the second most best-selling children’s author of all-time)… More
Australian Psycho
PEN staffer Jordan DeBor talks about the ban on Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho in Australia, where the book is censored for “graphic violence, sexual content, and its potential… 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
Support for the freedom to read with exclusive designs by Todd Parr, Mike Curato, Art Spiegelman, and more!
