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The Latest Breaking News from PEN America

PEN America invites writers who exited festival over Gaza to discuss ‘divergent views’

The writers group is also making a ‘substantial financial contribution’ to fund for distribution to Palestinian writers

The Guardian - US

Authors withdraw from PEN America festival in protest over Israel-Gaza war

Group of more than a dozen writers decry organization’s inadequate response to ‘genocide’ being committed by Israel

The Guardian - US

Open letter criticising PEN America’s stance on Israel-Gaza war reaches 500 signatories

Writers including Roxane Gay have called on the organisation to ‘wake up from its silent, tepid, self-congratulatory middle of the road and take a stand’

The Guardian - UK

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Libs of TikTok joins Okla. library panel

Education chief actively integrating extremist right-wing ideologies into state's education system, critics say

Salon

A secret shelf of banned books thrives in a Texas school, under the nose of censors

A teacher at a public school near Houston has a secret classroom bookshelf largely made up of challenged titles. Many of the books deal with race, sex and gender.

WEKU

Florida school district pulls dictionaries, encyclopedias from shelves to review for sexual content

Escambia County School District has pulled more than 1,600 books to review them for pornography or depictions of sexual conduct

The Independent UK

Florida school district pulls dictionaries for ‘sexual conduct’ descriptions

Officials say materials – including encyclopedias and other books – violate state law signed by Governor Ron DeSantis

The Guardian - US

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Federal lawsuit against Florida school district that banned books can move forward, judge rules

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit may move forward against a Florida Panhandle school district over its removal of books about race and LGBTQ+ identities from library shelves

The Independent UK

Book bans use ‘parental rights’ as cover to attack civil liberties, Democrat warns

Florida congressman Maxwell Frost, who introduced the Fight Banned Books Act, says bans are ‘baseless attack on our civil rights’

The Guardian - US

Infographic: Florida's Public School Book Bans

The Bluest Eyes and 13 Reasons Why top the list of controversial books in Florida.

Reason

2023 in books: Protests, bannings and the rise of AI helped shape the story of publishing

The publishing world made plenty of news in 2023, but not only because of the books themselves

The Independent UK

Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha released by IDF after abrupt arrest

Publishers and free speech advocates demanded the award-winning author’s release after he was separated from his family and questioned by Israeli military

The Independent UK

Pink gives away 2,000 banned books at Florida concerts

The pop music icon is taking a stand against the libraries and classrooms around the U.S. that have removed books due to claims of inappropriate content related to sexuality, gender identity and race.

WEKU

Republicans Target ‘Woke’ Climate Change Topics in Science Textbooks

Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian wants the Board of Education to reject accurate descriptions of climate change in school books.

Texas Observer

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The Guardian - US

Pink to distribute banned books at Florida tour dates

Singer to give out 2,000 free copies of books in state that is center of hotbed of challenges to free speech

The Guardian - US

‘Books keep our minds free’: US prisons ban reading materials at alarming pace

New PEN America data reveals incarcerated persons are being robbed of magazines and even recipe books

The Guardian - US

Most banned books in US prisons include Amy Schumer and Art of War

Latest banned books list comes amid increase in type of books being banned from prison system, PEN America says

The Independent UK

New report from PEN America documents vast book bannings in U.S. prisons

A new study from PEN America finds that tens of thousands of books are banned or restricted by U.S. prisons

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The Guardian - US

Scholastic to separate books on race, gender and sexuality for book fairs

Children’s book publisher will allow US districts to include or exclude separate list, a decision that has led to a backlash

The Guardian - UK

Malaysia pulls out of Frankfurt book fair, blaming organisation’s pro-Israel stance

Representatives of the south-east Asian country stated that the event, the world’s largest, has allied itself with Israel in its war with Hamas, after an award due to be presented to a Palestinian writer was cancelled

Salon

Expert alarmed as Texas book bans grow

“When white supremacy wins these fights, all of our children lose,” professor warns

The Guardian - US

Get on the bus: banned books tour hits the road, from New York to Texas

Book banning in public schools jumped by 33% this year, so a group of enthusiasts is tackling censorship with a bus tour

WEKU

Michael Connelly, Nikki Grimes, Judy Blume and other authors unite against book bans

During what the ALA is calling Banned Books week, more than a dozen high-profile authors are taking a stand against censorship. Author Michael Connelly alone has donated $1 million to the cause.

The Independent UK

Judy Blume, James Patterson and other authors are helping PEN America open Florida office

Judy Blume, James Patterson and Michael Connelly are among 24 prominent writers who have raised more than $3 million to help PEN America open a center in Miami and expand it efforts to counter Florida’s surge in book bannings in recent years

Ballotpedia

Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #79

Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board politics and governance.

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