Banned Books Week isn’t just observed here in the United States — it’s a world-wide celebration of the freedom to read! Banned Books Week UK has brought the party to the United Kingdom with a series of cool events.

Banned Books Week UK is coordinated by Banned Books Week Coalition member Index on Censorship, along with The British Library, English PEN, Free Word Centre, Islington Library and Heritage Services, Media Diversified, The Publishers Association, the Royal Society of Literature, Hachette UK and Libraries Connected in association with the ALA.

If you have the chance, check out the following Banned Books Week UK events during the annual celebration of the right to read! Learn more at https://www.bannedbooksweek.org.uk/

Censored: Inside the Lord Chamberlain’s Office (British Library)

When: Tuesday 25 September 2018, 19:00 – 20:30
Where: Knowledge Centre The British Library 96 Euston Road London NW1 2DB
Tickets: From £8 to £12 via British Library
Additional information: Web |+44 (0)1937 546546 | boxoffice@bl.uk

50 years after the Lord Chamberlain’s Office stopped censoring British theatre, Kathryn Johnson, Steve Nicholson and Dan Rebellato shed light on the inner workings of the former ‘fun police’. They are joined by writer and director Vinay Patel, author of the smash-hit BBC drama Murdered by My Father, who writes a short scene especially for the occasion which is performed and censored on the night.

How did censorship used to work? How could playwrights play the system? And what was the cost of censorship for society? Drawing on a wealth of examples and anecdotes from the Lord Chamberlain’s archive, held by the British Library, our panel of experts discover what would have got you into trouble (and clever ways you might have got around it…)

Speaking Out: Voicing Movements in the Face of Censorship

When: Tuesday 25 September 7:30 p.m. BST/2:30 p.m. EDT/1:30 p.m. CDT/11:30 a.m. PDT
Where: Online Webinar, https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6749024865921094915
Tickets: Free

Whether focused on race, gender equality, sexual orientation or mental health, movements are growing at a rapid speed due to digital media, demonstrations and published works. Yet the growth and prevalence of advocacy can make it easy to forget that these voices rose above their silencers’ attempt at censorship.

Join the Index on Censorship, American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and SAGE Publishing for “Speak Out: Voicing Movements in the Face of Censorship.” In this Banned Books Weekwebinar, authors will engage in conversation on writing, activism and speaking out. How have they used their words to speak out about something that has been silenced? What is the difference between being a voice of and for a movement? And what will it take for the USA to be censorship free in both oral and written word?

Storytelling Session: Blickling Estate, National Trust

National Trust | Blickling Estate | Tuesday 25 September | 12:45 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:15 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

Head over to Blickling Estate to explore why books are banned, censored, altered and redacted, with particular reference to books written by female authors including:

Children’s Books: Noddy, Harry Potter, Anne Frank’s Diary, Black Beauty, Blubber, Harriet the Spy and Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Adult Books: The Handmaid’s Tale, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Well of Loneliness, The Country Girls, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, The Color Purple, Frankenstein and Wild Swans.

Families are very welcome on both sessions.

Normal admission applies, but there is limited space in the room, so entry will be on a first-come, first serve basis.

More information here.

UK Drill & Grime – What’s the Problem?

Wednesday 26 September, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the Free Word Centre.

How is music that reflects the lives of marginalised youths on inner-city estates treated in the UK?

Part of Free Word’s upcoming THIS IS PRIVATE Season, launching 5 September 2018.

“This is how it’s been from the beginning, it’s just that everyone is hearing about it now.”

South London rapper Giggs spoke out in 2010 about the forced cancellations of his shows by the Met Police using the risk assessment Form 696. 8 years later, Form 696 has been scrapped, yet UK drill groups are being banned from YouTube and in some cases prohibited from making music without police approval, in case of lyrics that “encourage violence”.

How is music that reflects the lives of marginalised youths on inner-city estates treated in the UK, and what does this say about the censoring of certain voices and communities? With Grime MC P Money, DJ A.G, Drill Producer Carns Hill and Journalist Ciaran Thapar.

This is a Free Word and TRENCH pre-season event for THIS IS PRIVATE, and part of Banned Books Week UK.

Book Tickets HERE.

Censorship and Its Relationship to Fake News: Hull Library

Wednesday 26 September 2018 | 19:30 – 21:00 BST

Join Hull Library for a lively panel debate with our guests from the political, arts & media sector to discuss free speech, fake news and censorship in the age of the internet and social media.

Our panel of guests include:

• David Mark/ Chair, crime writer, ex-journalist
• Jenny Howard –Coombs/ Executive Director, Joint CEO, Freedom Festival
• Professor James Connelly/ Professor of Political Theory, University of Hull
• Angus Young/ Local Government Reporter, Hull Daily Mail

Tickets cost £3 per person – book online now!

+ Keep an eye out for our SMUT MOBILE!

The ‘Smut Mobile’ was first created in 1961 by the Mothers United For Decency group in Oklahoma, and was a trailer displaying books that they considered immoral. They parked the ‘Smut Mobile’ outside courthouses and public buildings to protest against indecency and to demand the removal of any books or magazines containing ‘smut’.

Our ‘Smut Mobile’, along with some ‘indignant mothers’, will tour around a number of our branch libraries, to protest against the amount of smut in our libraries!

Thursday 27th September & Friday 28th September 2018

• Thursday,10am to 12pm- Fred Moore Library, Wold Road, Hull, HU5 5UN
• Thursday, 2pm to 4pm- Ings Library, Savoy Road, Hull, HU8 0TY
• Friday,10am to 12pm- Freedom Centre Library, 95 Preston Rd, Hull, HU9 3QB
• Friday, 2pm to 4pm- East Park Library, 453 Holderness Rd, Hull, HU8 8JU

Lifting the Curtain: Theatre and Censorship (British Library)

When: Thursday 27 September 2018, 19:00 – 20:30
Where: Knowledge Centre, The British Library 96 Euston Road London NW1 2DB
Tickets: From £10 to £15 via British Library
Additional information: Web | +44 (0)1937 546546 | boxoffice@bl.uk

With Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Richard Eyre, Gillian Slovo and Ella Hickson

50 years since the Lord Chamberlain was stripped of his power to censor plays, we examine playwriting in the UK and freedom of expression.

Join director Richard Eyre and playwrights Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Gillian Slovo and Ella Hickson, to explore the development of British playwriting since the end of censorship in 1968. They consider the circumstances which led to the end of theatre censorship, whether the change in legislation heralded a change in artistic expression at the end of the 1960s, and notable productions which have caused controversy since. Has censorship in this country continued despite the end of legislation? In what other ways do writers today find what they want to say shaped and manipulate by others?

Beyond Censorship: Power, Silencing and Resistance

When: Friday 28 September, 7:00 -9:00 p.m.
Where: Lady Violet Room, National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place SW1A 2HE (Directions)
Tickets: Free. Registration required via Eventbrite

Please join the Authors’ Club, Media Diversified, the Jhalak Prize and Index on Censorship for a discussion of the ways in which dissenting voices are structurally silenced and the many ways of resistance.

A distinguished panel of writers will share their own experiences and works on how institutions and structures operate in subtle legal ways to silence voices that are considered discomfiting, challenging and dangerous as well as ways in which contemporary writing and publishing continues to find ways of resisting such unofficial forms of censorship.

Censorship with English PEN & Royal Court Theatre

Friday 28 September, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
BOOK TICKETS

In 1968, the Royal Court Theatre helped bring about the abolition of the Lord Chamberlain’s censorship powers. But even today, 50 years later, we continue to be challenged by the complexities of freedom of political expression and self-censorship.

This panel discussion explores how artists and programmers continue to reconcile truth-telling with genuine political jeopardy and contemporary cultural politics, both nationally and internationally.

Panellists will include Anthony Burton (chair, Royal Court Theatre), Anthony Neilson (playwright and director) and Anna Wakulik (playwright). The event will be chaired by Ritula Shah.

The event, co-hosted by The Royal Court Theatre, is part of this year’s Banned Books Week UK, a week long celebration of the freedom to read.

Storytelling Session: Blickling Estate, National Trust

National Trust | Blickling Estate | Saturday 29 September | 12:45 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:15 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

As well as touching on Winnie the Pooh (part of The Word Defiant installation), we’ll be focusing on children’s poetry book ‘A Light in the Attic’ by Shel Silverstein. This was the first children’s book to appear on the New York Times best sellers list, whilst at the same time topping the list of the most frequently challenged books – although the book itself was never actually banned, several of the poems constantly caused controversy.

Families are very welcome on both sessions.

Normal admission applies, but there is limited space in the room, so entry will be on a first-come, first serve basis.

More information here.