Banned Books Week 2014 To Spotlight Comics And Graphic Novels

This year’s Banned Books Week celebration, being held September 21-27, will put a thematic spotlight on comic books and graphic novels, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and the Banned Books Week National Committee announced today.

“This year we spotlight graphic novels because, despite their serious literary merit and popularity as a genre, they are often subject to censorship,” said Judith Platt, chair of the Banned Books Week National Committee.

Graphic novels consistently hold multiple spots on the American Library Association’s list of Frequently Challenged Books, with Dav Pikey’s Captain Underpants pants topping the most recent list and Jeff Smith’s Bone closing out the top ten. Other recently challenged graphic novels include Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, which became entangled in a university funding controversy in South Carolina, and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, which faced an attempted ban in Chicago Public Schools.

“The CBLDF is pleased to be a part of the coalition that makes Banned Books Week such a vital time to celebrate the freedom to read,” said CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. “It’s shocking that books are still banned and challenged. Comics are especially vulnerable to those challenges. With this year’s Banned Books Week focus, we welcome the opportunity to engage the public in a vital dialogue about intellectual freedom and the powerful role comics serve.”

Readers can find out more information about Banned Books Week at the celebration’s website. More information about the CBLDF, which exists specifically to fight legal challenges against comics and graphi novels, at the organization’s website.