Intergenerational Banned Books Week Performance Event

Friday, September 26 (6:30-8:00 p.m.)

City Lit Books
2523 N. Kedzie Ave.
Chicago, IL  60647

free and open to the public

You are invited to attend an intergenerational banned books week performance event at City Lit Books. Beatriz Badikian-Gartler, Annabelle Forney, Caleb Kowalkowski, Henry Kowalkowski, Kathleen Larkin and Deirdre Harrison will read passages from masterpieces such as To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Maus by Art Spiegelman, Sandman by Neil Gaiman, A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, and Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The readings will be accompanied by music -- KG Price (percussion), Jeff Kowalkowski (accordion, NORD), Sam Bradshaw (upright bass) and Dan Godston (trumpet, small instruments).

From the America Library Association website: “Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.”

This Banned Books Week event is part of the Ninth Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival and Chicago Artists Month. Chicago Calling is a multi-arts collaboration festival; during Chicago Calling 2014 people in Chicago work with people outside of Chicago -- both here in the U.S. and abroad. These collaborations include a range of art forms, such as music, dance, film, literature, and intermedia -- and they are prepared or improvised. Some Chicago Calling events involve live feeds between Chicago and other locations.

Links: 

• "20 Banned Books That May Surprise You" by Molly Driscoll (The Christian Science Monitor, 6/28/2011)
• "Alison Bechdel Awarded MacArthur Fellowship: 'Fun Home' Creator One Of 21 New Fellows" by Claire Fallon (The Huffington Post, 9/17/2014)
• American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
• American Library Association
• "Ban This Book: An Uncensored Look At The Lorax And Other Dangerous Books" by Alan Levinovitz (The Millions, 3/1/2012)
• Banned Books Week
• "Banned Books Week 2014 Celebrates Graphic Novels" by Nanette Perez (bannedbooksweek.org, 6/4/2014)
• "Banned Books Week 2014 To Focus on Comics, Graphic Novels" by Emelia Fredlick (Paste, 6/10/2014)
• "Banned Books Week and the 'Dangers' of the Comic Book" by Casey Gilly (Comic Book Resources, 9/25/2014)
• Case Study: Watchmen (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund)
• "Chicago Public Schools’ Ban of ‘Persepolis’ Continues to Face Challenge from Anti-Censorship Alliance" by Kevin Gosztola
• "Chicago Public Schools denies it banned the book "Persepolis" by Linda Lutton (WBEZ)
• City Lit Books
• "Controversial ‘Lorax’ a threat to Dr. Seuss legacy?" by Jeremy Lott (The Washington Times, 3/5/2012)
• "Fighting for Captain Underpants" by Samia Hossain (ACLU)
• Freedom To Read Foundation
• "'Mockingbird Next Door': A Genteel Peek Into Harper Lee's Quiet Life" by Maureen Corrigan (NPR)
• National Council of Teachers of English
• "'Perks Of Being A Wallflower' Glen Ellyn Book Ban Busted By Judy Blume's Intervention" (The Huffington Post, 6/11/2013)
• Scholars at Risk Network
• "Shel Silverstein's Unlikely Rise to Kid Lit Superstardom" (Mental Floss)
• "Wars of Comics and Culture in 'Ten-Cent Plague'" (NPR, 4/28/2008)
• "Why Chicago’s Persepolis Book Ban Hurts Students Most" by Michelle Sinsky (Hyperallergic, 4/16/2013)