This February, Canada celebrates it's 24th annual Freedom To Read Week, featuring lectures, readings and other events to remind us of the struggle against censorship.
In a liberal, democratic country like Canada, it's easy to feel like we can write whatever we want and find an audience for it. With the wide range of magazine and book publishers, as well as the internet, there is a market for pretty much anything.
Yet in Canada, writing is still censored and writers can find themselves under suspicion. In 2004, Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill had her home and office raided by the RCMP after she wrote about Canada's new and controversial anti-terrorism laws. Other Canadian writers whose work has been censored include Margaret Laurence, Leonard Cohen and Mordecai Richler.
Bookstores are also targeted. Little Sisters Bookstore, a gay and lesbian bookstore in Vancouver, has repeatedly had its material seized at the border by Canada Customs.
Censorship of children's literature continues to be an issue. Celebrated children's author Robert Munsch has been censored, as have other Canadian children's authors. The book And Tango Makes Three has been repeatedly condemned, along with other books that feature gay parents.
Freedom to Read Week is organized by the Book and Periodic Council and the Freedom of Expression committee, and will be recognized with events across the country. In Vancouver, author Karen Connelly will read from her novel The Lizard Cage (2005) about a Burmese singer imprisoned for his anti-government lyrics.
For a complete list of events, look here.
PEN Canada also continues to fight for freedom of expression, both in Canada and around the world.
