In 2025, when books, topics, words, historical records, and human rights and freedoms are being banned and destroyed daily in the United States, Freedom to Read Week feels more vital than ever.
Six years ago, to mark the 35th anniversary of Freedom to Read Week, I wrote a blog post for Editors Canada about having edited a book on a controversial, indeed taboo, subject. Going into the edit, I was uneasy about the material. But I knew the book was ground-breaking and deserved to be read. And before someone could read it, someone had to be willing to edit it.
I learned so much from working on that book. Beyond the facts and ideas it contained, I discovered aspects of human behaviour and emotion that I knew nothing about going in.
That’s the thing about challenging literature: it puts us inside the lives, experiences, minds, and hearts of others like nothing else can. If the writing is truly challenging, we may not completely like it or agree with it. But that’s kind of the point. We have to stretch if we’re going to grow.
Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in a modern democracy. It’s a right, as we are keenly reminded now, that we cannot take for granted. It’s a right we must fight for, with our words and our actions.