Books They Don’t Want You to Read — Banned Books in the 21st Century

PPN (Publishing Professionals Network invites BAIPA members to participate in this free January 21 presentation on banned books.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/books-they-dont-want-you-to-read-tickets-1138863845419

Books They Don’t Want You to Read — Banned Books in the 21st Century

With Nick Weir-Williams

January 21, 2025
Noon (PT), On Zoom

Book banning has been around almost as long as the printed book, from the papal Index in the sixteenth century through Howl in the twentieth and still today. Current attacks are ostensibly coming from the perennial bugbear of freedom to publish (or speak)—the angry parent—but what else might lurk behind them? We will take a look at the current state of “book banning” in contemporary America and offer some context for what is happening.

This talk will cover:

• What has sparked the current wave of censorship?
• Is the word “banned” really accurate?
• How has the publishing industry responded (or not)?
• Are bans in fact a threat to free speech or proof of the continued strength, influence, and resilience of the printed book?

Find out what you need to know about this persistent practice and its potential impact on book publishers and readers.

Nick Weir-Williams has worked in publishing and publishing technology for 47 years in a wide variety of publishing organizations from start-ups to multinationals, publishing books that have won the Nobel Prize for Literature, the National Book Award, and the IMPAC award. He was chair of the PMA (now IBPA) at the turn of the century and founded the Illinois Book Publishers Association when he was director at Northwestern University Press. He set up and runs a Facebook group “Books They Don’t Want You to Read.” He is also a published author, currently working on a book on the Russian exploration of the West coast. He lives near Seattle.