Morning links: October 13
Forever, by Judy Blume
Judy Blume’s Forever, ruffling feathers since 1975: “She was in full agreement that it was not appropriate,” Larcomb said. “Upon further review, she agreed. I think sometimes we assume that Judy Blume books are innocuous and appropriate for all grade levels, but that’s not necessarily true.”
At Crime Reads: 12 Cover Artists Every Vintage Crime Lover Should Know. If this is of interest to you, definitely check out Paperbacks from Hell, by Grady Hendrix—it’s a blast.
Related to Paperbacks from Hell: Valancourt Books and Quirk are teaming up to re-issue some of the books covered therein!
A reminder of what actual censorship—as opposed to criticism—looks like: This Week in History: 1961, RCMP raid the Vancouver Public Library over a notorious novel.
Related story about A POLICE RAID IN THE MIDDLE OF A LIVE PERFORMANCE WHAAAAAT at the Vancouver Police Museum & Archives: Lewd and Filthy: A Theatre Escapade with Morality Police, Audience Protests and PR Gold.
At the NYT: Maryse Condé Wins an Alternative to the Literature Nobel in a Scandal-Plagued Year. “The New Academy Prize in Literature differs from the Nobel in several ways: Instead of the Nobel’s cloistered deliberations, the New Academy prize was selected by a mix of librarians, readers and judges. Swedish librarians nominated the first round of contenders, a public poll the next, and the ultimate winner was selected from three finalists by a panel of judges led by the editor Ann Palsson.“
At Tor: Five Indigenous Speculative Fiction Authors You Should Be Reading. “Let’s face it, Native Americans/First Nations characters don’t show up very often in mainstream science fiction and fantasy stories, and when they do, they’re often plagued by stereotypes. They’re monosyllabic mystics, stuck in the 1800s, or they’re relegated to laconic (a.k.a stoic) warriors in horse cultures, or, even worse, erased from the continent entirely.“