Banned Books Week

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community — librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

Banned Books Week 2020 will be held September 27 – October 3. The theme of this year’s event is “Censorship is a dead end. Find your freedom to read!”

Here are some of the titles held by Swindon Libraries that have been banned in different parts of the world:

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Banned due to the fear that the book would teach children to regard humans and animals at the same level. Such thoughts were considered “disastrous”.

American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis

One of the most banned books of all time.

Some of the reasons behind the bans are that the book includes “inappropriate content” and “incites violence”.

And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Challenged and relocated for
LGBTQIA+ content.

Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

Banned in a number of countries for being “obscene”.

The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown

Banned for being “offensive to Christianity”.

The Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio

Banned for being “obscene” and “blasphemous”.

Drama, Raina Telgemeier

Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and for concerns that it goes against “family values/morals”.

The Handmaid’s Tail, Margaret Atwood

Banned and challenged for profanity and for
“vulgarity and sexual overtones”.

The Harry Potter series, JK Rowling

Banned and forbidden from discussion for referring to magic and witchcraft, for containing actual curses and spells, and for
characters that use “nefarious means” to attain goals.

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

Banned for being “obscene”.

Banned for being “socially offensive, vulgar and promoted controversial racial and political issues”.

Banned for being “blasphemous”.

Banned for anti-slavery content.