Rise Up and Read During Banned Books Week

This week is the annual Banned Books Week, a time to celebrate the bravery of writers who  face threats and suppression for putting their ideas to the page. At Restless Books, we seek out voices that are silenced and ignite discourse. In today’s political environment, with its amped-up rhetoric of fear, hatred, and distrust of people and viewpoints that are “other,” the project of listening to what oppressed voices have to say has become critical. This week we pay our respects to writers who have faced jail time and violence in order to speak their truths.

Fardwor, Russia! A Fantastical Tale of Life Under Putin and The Underground are illuminating works by two such writers. Oleg Kashin was beaten nearly to death just two days after he submitted his manuscript for Fardwor, Russia! for his political commentary and articles speaking out against Putin. Hamid Ismailov, author of The Underground, was forced to flee Uzbekistan because of his writing; his work is still banned there today.

We’re not the only ones committed to supporting such writers—some of  our pals and peers at other great indie publishers been putting out notable suppressed works: The Year of the Comet by Sergei Lebedev (published by New Vessel Press), The Accusation by Bandi (published by Grove Press), Home by Leila S. Chudori (published by Deep Vellum Press), Maidenhair by Mikhail Shishkin (published by Open Letter), Diaries of Exile by Yannis Ritsos (published by Archipelago Books), and Country of Ash by Edward Reicher (published by Bellevue Literary Press).  

It is our responsibility, as the beneficiaries of their words, to promote their works so that they do not fall into obscurity or disappear, and to celebrate their ability to inspire people to action against oppressive regimes that are afraid of the power of the written word.