Today, the Iranian-French BD writer Marjane Satrapi (1969-2026) died. She is the author of the monumental Persépolis (originaly written in French) denouncing the Islamic Republic theocracy, seen through the eyes of a young girl. (A book eerily banned from some US school libraries as Islamic literature!) She also adapted the books into a film, winning Special Jury Prize in 2007 from the Cannes Film Festival. I also loved her Poulet aux Prunes (Chicken with Plums), following a tar player dying from sadness when loosing his beloved instrument after an argument with his wife. (Tragic premonition: Satrapi’s family announced that she died of sadness from loosing her husband, Mattias Ripa…) More recently, she also coordinated the collective book Femme, Vie, Liberté (Woman, Life, Freedom) in support of the Iranian revolts following the killing of Mahsa Amini.
Archive for book censoring
mort d’une résistante [درگذشت مرجان ساتراپی، مبارز مقاومت]
Posted in Books, Kids, Travel with tags bande dessinée, banned books, BD, book censoring, Cannes film festival, comics, compulsory veiling laws, Farsi, Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahsa Amini, Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis, Persian music, Special Jury Prize, tar, theocracy, US politics, Woman Life Liberty on June 5, 2026 by xi'anbook bans
Posted in Books, Kids with tags book ban, book censoring, censorship, education, Le Monde, library book, Maus, Tor Books on March 28, 2022 by xi'an
As a coincidence, Le Monde [weekend edition of 18 March] had an article about the rapidly growing number of book bans in US [school] libraries and Tor.com highlighted a tribune by a US school librarian detailing a concerted move by conservative forces to ban books going against their (bigoted) views… And giving advice for resisting the move (like, don’t donate banned books to the libraries).
Hong Kong under CPC iron fist
Posted in Kids, Travel with tags book censoring, China, Communist Party of China, Facebook, Hong Kong, Kowloon Bay, mainland, pro-democracy protesters on July 14, 2020 by xi'an
“Students in Hong Kong are now banned from any political activity in schools including singing, posting slogans and boycotting classes, the territory’s education minister has said.” BBC, 8 July
“Books by prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy figures have become unavailable in the Chinese-ruled city’s public libraries as they are being reviewed to see whether they violate a new national security law, a government department said.” ABC, 6 July
“Lawyers and legal experts have said China’s national security law for Hong Kong will fundamentally change the territory’s legal system. It introduces new crimes with severe penalties – up to life in prison – and allows mainland security personnel to legally operate in Hong Kong with impunity. The legislation gives Beijing extensive powers it has never had before to shape life in the territory far beyond the legal system.” BBC, 1 July
“Based on the [new] law, the Hong Kong authorities can dictate the way people around the world talk about the city’s contested politics. A Facebook employee could potentially be arrested in Hong Kong if the company failed to hand over user data on someone based in the United States whom Chinese authorities deemed a threat to national security.” NYT, 7 July
