[Peace-discuss] Censorship events sponsored by CPL

[Linda Evans]

A friend of mine at the Champaign Public Library has
worked hard on some upcoming events that focus on
censorship.  I think some of these events (especially
the town hall panel meeting May 18th with Bob
McChesney and Leigh Estabrook) might be of some
interest to AWARE members.

Linda

C-U Reading Events

Registration is not required for any of these free
programs.  For more information, call 403-2070.

Deep Throat Uncovered			
Sunday, April 4, at 2 pm
Champaign Public Library, Auditorium
505 S. Randolph St.
Follow the hunt to find the most elusive, anonymous
news source in history — Deep Throat. Two-time
Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and U. of I.
Professor Bill Gaines and members of his research team
will talk about their four-year investigation for the
first time in a forum that is free and open to the
public. The Dateline NBC feature on their search will
be shown, and questions will be welcome.

Harmful to Children
Tuesday, April 6, at 7 pm
Champaign Public Library, Auditorium
Attempts to limit access to a book most often involve
a parent and a school or school library. It’s not
surprising then that lists of the most-challenged
books are full of children’s titles. Who should decide
what’s available for children to choose from? Janice
Del Negro, director of The Center for Children’s
Books, will lead a discussion of banned and challenged
children’s books. 

Fahrenheit 451 (Viewing of the 1966 film)     
Sunday, April 18, at 2 pm
Foellinger Auditorium
University of Illinois Quad
Francois Truffaut’s film version of Fahrenheit 451 is
a masterpiece in itself, says Edwin Jahiel,
News-Gazette film critic and U. of I. professor of
cinema studies. Jahiel will introduce this special C-U
Reading screening, then lead the audience in a lively
post-viewing discussion of the film and other
cinema-related topics. Co-sponsored by the UIUC Unit
for Cinema Studies.


Mock Trial: City of Booksville v. One Obscene Book
Entitled Brave New World		
Thursday, April 22, at 6:30 pm
Champaign City Council Chambers
102 N. Neil St.
Can Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World be found “legally
obscene and generally immoral”?  Come hear the
arguments as Attorney Steve Beckett and the
award-winning Trial Team from the University of
Illinois College of Law make the case at a mock
criminal obscenity forfeiture trial. Co-sponsored by
the University of Illinois College of Law.

Crying "Fire!" in the Flood, or Fifty Great New Ways
to Drown a Book
Tuesday, April 27, at 7 pm
Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH)
Humanities Lecture Hall
805 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Urbana
While we may not be boldly burning books today (as
envisioned in Fahrenheit 451), good or bothersome
books are still disappearing — lost in a flood of
mediocre new titles, back-channel business deals, and
'insider trading' of literary reviews, according to U.
of I. Professor of English Bruce Michelson. Michelson
will talk about these subtle, high-tech ways of
banishing books into oblivion, then lead an open,
in-depth discussion of Fahrenheit 451.

Out of the Ashes: VOICE Reads from Banned and
Challenged Books
Wednesday, April 28, at 7 pm
Verde Gallery
17 E. Taylor St., Champaign
Experience the unique style and compelling work of the
U. of I. Graduate Creative Writing Program performing
group called VOICE.  Twelve VOICE members will speak
out against censorship by reading passages from banned
literature classics. VOICE members will also read
their own original works of poetry and fiction in this
celebration of the written word.  

Links on the Chain: Keeping Our Stories Alive
Tuesday, May 4, at 7 pm
Champaign Public Library, Auditorium
In the fictional world of Fahrenheit 451, books are
memorized and recited to keep them alive — an
extension of what storytellers have done for
centuries.  Internationally acclaimed storyteller Dan
Keding will share some of his favorite stories that
have been passed down from generation to generation at
this program for all ages. Keding received the
national Storytelling Network’s Circle of Excellence
Award in 2000.

C#ns*rsh%p in Comics and Graphic Novels
Thursday, May 6, at 7 pm
Champaign Public Library, Auditorium
Comics fanatic (and graphic designer) John Jennings
will talk about his lifelong love for comics and
graphic novels, with a focus on the dark days of 1950s
censorship that nearly destroyed the industry.
Jennings is an assistant professor of graphic design
at the University of Illinois and creates his own
computer-generated graphic novels. 

>From Book Burners to Body Snatchers: Nightmares of
Conformity and Communism in 1950s America
Tuesday, May 11, at 7 pm
Champaign Public Library, Auditorium
When Fahrenheit 451 was written in the 1950s, America
was in the midst of the censorship mentality of
McCarthyism, the Communist threat loomed, and mass
culture pressured people toward conformism. How did
these factors combine to make people fear that their
individuality could be lost? U. of I. Associate
Professor of History Mark Leff will bring his
expertise on that era to this presentation, including
a comparison between Fahrenheit 451 and the film
Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Censorship in Literature — Keepin’ the Faith Radio
Program
Sunday, May 16, at 5 pm
Broadcast on WILL-AM 580 
On his weekly hour-long radio program, host Steve
Shoemaker will discuss censorship in literature with
Barbara Jones, former head of the Rare Book Room at
the University of Illinois and now university
librarian at Wesleyan University.

“One Book, One City, One Show”: A Showcase of Ten 
What You Read, What You Hear, What You See:  
A Panel Discussion on Current Censorship and Privacy
Issues
Tuesday, May 18, at 7 pm
Champaign Public Library, Auditorium
Fifty years after Fahrenheit 451’s prescient warning
about censorship, who is deciding what we can see and
hear — and what others know about us? Your comments
will be welcome as David Inge of WILL radio moderates
a thoughtful discussion of intellectual and artistic
freedom, the media, privacy, and community standards.
The diverse panel of local and national experts will
include U. of I. Professors Bob McChesney and Leigh
Estabrook, News-Gazette Editor, Publisher, and
Executive Vice President John Foreman, Arts and
Entertainment Editor Jenny Southlynn from The Paper,
Judge Robert Steigmann, and Bill Thomson, National
Field Director of the Christian Coalition.
Co-sponsored by WILL.


Mad About Harry: Banned Books Booktalk
Wednesday, June 16, at 7 pm
Monday, June 21, at 10 am
Champaign Public Library, Auditorium
The freedom to read doesn’t endure effortlessly. 
Books are “challenged” — someone asks to have them
removed from public shelves — by the dozens every
year.  For the past several years, wizard-in-training
Harry Potter has topped the lists of challenged books.
The Library’s Kelly Strom will give a casual booktalk
on challenged (or successfully banned) titles. Find
out what they’re about, why they were challenged, and
why they’re worth reading.

Biographer Sam Weller Talks with Ray Bradbury
Sunday, June 27, at 2 pm
Champaign Public Library, Auditorium
At this Fahrenheit 451 finale, bring your questions
for the man whose unique vision created this and
hundreds of other memorable science fiction novels and
short stories. Author and journalist Sam Weller,
Bradbury’s authorized biographer, will share his
personal insights into this remarkable man and then
take questions from the audience to ask Bradbury, who
will be at the other end of the phone line.

Words on Fire: Discussions of Fahrenheit 451
Join Library staff for a discussion of the themes and
timeliness of Fahrenheit 451.  Each session is the
same, so pick the time and place that work best for
you.  

Champaign Public Library Auditorium
Monday, April 5, at 2 pm
Tuesday, April 13, at 7 pm
Thursday, April 22, at 2 pm
Saturday, April 24, at 2 pm
Friday, April 30, at 11 am
Saturday, May 8, at 2 pm
Monday, May 10, at 11 am
Wednesday, May 19, at 7 pm
Sunday, May 23, at 2 pm
Thursday, May 27, at 2 pm
Wednesday, June 2, at 2 pm
Saturday, June 5, at 2 pm
Tuesday, June 8, at 7 pm
Tuesday, June 15, at 7 pm
Thursday, June 24, at 7 pm

Douglass Branch Library Meeting Room
Wednesday, April 21, at 6 pm
Saturday, May 22, at 1pm
Monday, June 14, at 6 pm


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