Literary Mind Meld

In a literary "Mind Meld" of universal proportions publishers Brian Hades and Gwen Gades announced on August 11, 2007, that three publishing imprints, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, Tesseract Books and Dragon Moon Press, have merged to form Canada's largest genre publisher of Science Fiction and Fantasy. This triumvirate publishing house now has more than 90 titles in print.

In a recent presentation at Calgary's annual convention of Science Fiction and Fantasy fans, Brian Hades, publisher of EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing, and Gwen Gades, publisher of Dragon Moon Press, expressed their delight with the merger: "We are both committed to producing quality books which feature today's best Science Fiction and Fantasy authors. We know readers will find a wonderful variety of both short fiction and novel length books to choose from ... including works by some of the world's finest writers."

About Dragon Moon Press: Since the first printing of "Daughter of Dragons" in 1997, Dragon Moon Press has established itself as a leading Canadian publishing house whose dedication to first time authors and writers of literary excellence earned the company a place in the hearts of readers around the globe. The company has produced a number of books over the years, including the very popular"Complete Guide" series, which includes three guide books on writing Fantasy and a soon-to-be-released guide book about writing Science Fiction. Oh, and, of course, one of my favorites (:D) "Darwin's Paradox".

About EDGE Science Fiction Publishing and Tesseracts Books: Since its award winning publication of Marie Jakober's "The Black Chalice" in 2002, life has been on high speed for this Calgary publishing company. It quickly gained recognition from readers and writers alike for its critical selection of engaging speculative fiction. EDGE's authors come from Canada, the USA, New Zealand and Australia. EDGE authors have garnered world wide recognition by winning a number of awards - including the Canadian Aurora Award, the Australian Aurealis Award and the ForeWord Magazine Award (USA).

About Tesseract Books: In 2003, EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy acquired Tesseract Books - the publisher of the highly respected and extremely popular "Tesseracts"anthology of Canadian short speculative fiction.

About the Tesseract Anthology Series: Since its inception 22 years ago, the Tesseracts anthology has featured 344 short works and more than 200 Canadian authors, editors and translators --including such well known writers as Margaret Atwood, Robert J. Sawyer, Spider Robinson, and William Gibson, to name a few.

A Wizard of Earthsea

When my boys were gone on holiday and I had to stay home to work, my good friends down the street took pity on me in my solitude and invited me to supper and a movie at their house. I gladly accepted, always ready for company and to mooch... :) ... The movie turned out to be a wonderful fantasy they rented from the video store that had been made in 2004 by the U.S. based Sci-Fi Channel: A Wizard of Earthsea.

When they announced the title of the movie, I recognized Ursula le Guin's masterpiece of some time ago. What struck me with surprise was that my friends not only didn't know the writer, but they had introduced this 2004 movie as a Harry Potter clone! "It's got dragons and wizards and even a wizard school, like Hogwarts in it!" they claimed. And so it did. But what they didn't realize was that A Wizard from Earthsea came long before J.K. Rowling even began to think of Harry Potter.

The Fear Behind Censorship: Mob Mentality

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition: for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." -- Thomas Paine


The American Library Association defines censorship as "the suppression of ideas and information that certain persons--individuals, groups or government officials--find objectionable or dangerous. It is no more complicated than someone saying, 'don't let anyone read this book, or buy that magazine, or view that film, because I object to it.' "

Banned Books--How many did YOU read?

This Friday, in keeping with a literary theme, I've linked you to a Forbidden Library. This library boils overful with an oozing cornucopia of 'demoralizing', 'blasphemous', 'racial', 'offensive', 'obscene', 'anti-Communist', 'Satanic', and 'anarchistic' literature. Ah, yes, you say! How subversive. Check it out! Its librarian, Janet Yanosko, has indexed books by author and title with explanation of why the book was banned along with her own amusing rather pithy remarks. You'll find books that people found offensive like:

• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: a book on censorship gets censored!


• James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl: promotes drugs and disobedience


• Where's Waldo by Martin Handford: for nudity


• 1984 by George Orwell: for being pro-communist


• The Lorax by Doctor Seuss: because it criminalizes the logging industry


• Zen Buddhism: selected writings by D.T. Suzuki: because it portrays Buddhism as appealing


• Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut: for its foul language

Books have been banned (and burned) on many occasions by many societies over humankind's history of existence for various reasons. Books considered critical of governments or societies with power were a common target. So were books that dealt with criminal matter or promoted views counter with popular worldviews, or were considered distasteful or disturbing.

The Bible, the Qur'an and other religious works were banned (and burned) over the years. In Medieval Europe, the Roman Catholic Church dealt with dissenting printed opinion through a program called the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (index of prohibited books). Okay, here's a partial list I got off Wikipedia with reasons for banning. I've bolded the ones I've read. How many did YOU read?

• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: for portraying animals and humans on the same level
• The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine: banned in UK for blasphemy in 18th C
• All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remaraque: banned in Nazi Germany for demoralizing and insulting the Wehrmacht
• Animal Farm by George Orwell: banned for anti-Stalin theme
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain: banned in some U.S. schools for use of racial slurs
• Bible: banned by the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in Catholic Church
• Black Beauty by Anna Sewell: banned in South Africa for using the word 'black'
• Brave New World byAldous Huxley: banned for centering around negative activity
• Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer: banned for sexual content
• Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: banned in some U.S. schools and libraries for sexual situations, immorality and other themes of impropriety and anti-Christian sentiments
• Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: banned in U.S. during McCarthyism
• Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel: banned because of hardcore graphic sexual content
• The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: banned in anti-Communist countries during the Red scare
• Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak: banned in USSR for criticism of the Bolshevik Party
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: for issues on censorship
• For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway: banned in Spain during Francisco Franco's rule for its pro-Republican views
• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: banned in part of U.S. because of the use of the word 'nigger'
• Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck: banned in some U.S. schools for use of the name God and Jesus in a vain and profane manner along with inappropriate sexual references
• Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift: banned in Ireland as wicked and obscene
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare: banned in Ethiopia
• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling: banned in some U.S. school libraries for use of witchcraft and supposedly Satanic views
• King Lear by William Shakespeare: banned in UK out of respect to King George III's aleged insanity
• Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence: banned in U.S. and UK for obsenity
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis: challenged in part of U.S. for depicting graphic violence, mysticism and gore
• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss: banned in parts of U.S. for being an allegorical political commentary
• The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury: challenged in U.S. for profanity
• Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler: reproduction and sale is forbidden outside Germany, Austria and Netherlands for promoting Nazism
• Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory: challenged in UK as 'junk'
• 1984 by George Orwell: banned in USSR for political reasons; banned in U.S. for being pro-communist and for explicit sexual matter
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: banned in some U.S. schools and libraries for promoting 'euthanasia' and for profanity
• The Odyssey by Homer: Plato suggested expurgating it for immature readers and Caligula tried to suppress it for expressing Greek ideals of freedom
• On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: banned in various places for promoting the evolutionary theory
• Paradise Lost by John Milton: listed on the Indx Librorum Prohibitorum in Rome
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: challenged due to racial themes
• Ulysses by James Joyce: banned in U.S. for its sexual content
• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: banned in southern States and Czarist Russia for racist portrayal of African Americans and use of word 'nigger'.

Okay, so I read a lot of them. Does that make me a subversive? How about you? I find it interesting to note that books published as recently as "Harry Potter" are banned as wicked or even evil.
This all begs the question of what art truly is and should be. Susan Sontag suggested that "real art makes us nervous." The genius of art skirts the edge of propriety and comfort to ask the questions that help us define our own humanity. Oscar Wilde remarked, "an idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being an idea at all." Benjamin Franklin suggested that, "if all printers were determined not to print anthing till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed."
Henry Steel Commager eloquently stated that, "censorship...creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion." John F. Kennedy further added that, "...a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."
Lillian Hellman, who was subpoenaed to appear before the House of Un-American Activities Commitee in 1952, exclaimed, "I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions."
Live and write from the heart.

Nina Munteanu is an ecologist and internationally published author of novels, short stories and essays. She coaches writers and teaches writing at George Brown College and the University of Toronto. For more about Nina’s coaching & workshops visit www.ninamunteanu.me. Visit www.ninamunteanu.ca for more about her writing.