Rutgers professor forced to visit psych ward for voicing political opinions
As in so many places across the country, tensions seem to be running high at Rutgers University after the election. On Tuesday, a professor was taken by police to a psychiatric hospital,… Read more »
Independent Bookstore Allowed to Keep Controversial Anti-Trump Display
One has to imagine that the looming presidency of Donald J. Trump will raise a number of questions, both worrisomely new and enduringly ancient, about free speech, community inclusivity, and meaningful… Read more »
Suspended Budapest journalists align themselves symbolically with the homeless
Yesterday, journalists at the liberal Budapest newspaper Nepszabadsag, which was abruptly shut down earlier this month, staged a collaboration with the city’s homeless to protest what they believe was a government intervention… Read more »
Still Other Things to Talk About When We Talk about We Need to Talk About Kevin’s Author Talking About Racism
First we talked about novelist Lionel Shriver wearing a sombrero for part of her address at the Brisbane Writers Festival, wherein she espoused the unpopular opinion that arguments against cultural appropriation have… Read more »
Couple loses job after writing anti-Trump children’s book
It is with a heavy heart that I must announce that the jerks are at it again. Amy Graff at SFGate reports that their latest target are married couple Brad and Amy… Read more »
Egyptian author jailed over “explicit” content in his novel
Over the past few years, MobyLives has been reporting on increased government censorship and harassment of writers in Egypt. Now, the situation appears to be worsening, with alarming incidents following each… Read more »
“Illiterate” man on trial in UAE for sharing poem on WhatsApp
The poetry-friendly (in specific contexts) United Arab Emirates has jailed and put a man on trial for sharing a poem on WhatsApp. The man’s counsel, however, is claiming that the defendant’s minimal… Read more »
British foreign secretary steps in over missing Hong Kong booksellers
On Monday we reported that a fifth bookseller had gone missing in Hong Kong in what appears to be a move by the Chinese government to silence dissenting voices in… Read more »
Four employees of a Hong Kong publisher known for criticizing Chinese regime are missing
MobyLives has previously written about the challenges faced by publishers and booksellers located in—and friendly with—Hong Kong: everything from decade-long prison sentences, retaliation from distributors, and mainland censorship of any books (even seemingly innocuous… Read more »
Memoir by Japanese killer “Boy A” provokes uproar
In the long history of monstrous criminals writing books, there are plenty of obstacles to publication. Sometimes the law intercedes, sometimes the killer doesn’t manage to sell the book, and… Read more »