‘It’s not a badge of honour to have books banned’

Bestselling American writer Jodi Picoult has mentioned “the loss of free speech is a very, very slippery slope” and that having two of her books banned at school districts in some US states is “not a badge of honour”.

Speaking at the Hay Festival, Picoult said she was “very fortunate because I’m at a point in my career where people who are going to be buying my books are not in school libraries”.

But the writer, who has written 30 books and bought round 40 million copies, mentioned this wasn’t the case for youthful authors, LGBTQ writers or individuals of color, “whose livelihood is writing for middle grade and young adult readers. They are suffering greatly”.

Picoult mentioned her books My Sister’s Keeper and Nineteen Minutes have been affected by the bans.

Some libraries and school rooms within the US have removed books with sexual content material or themes of sexuality, gender identification and race.

While some view this as censorship, others disagree. Some state authorities, such as Florida, have said they are not banning books however proscribing inappropriate and dangerous materials.

“I’m currently banned in about 35 American states in school districts,” Picoult advised the viewers at Hay.

She mentioned the rationale Nineteen Minutes, which is about a US faculty capturing, was banned, was not as a result of of the capturing scenes: “They have no problem with that. The problem is that on page 313, I use the term ‘erection’.”

Asked if it ever made her take into consideration altering what she wrote, she mentioned: “It only makes me want to keep doing it (what I’m doing).”

Picoult additionally mentioned her upcoming novel, By Any Other Name.

It isn’t her first foray into historic fiction however this time it’s a parallel story about up to date younger playwright Melina Green, who’s struggling to get her work recognised in New York, and her ancestor, Emilia Bassano, who might – or might not – have been the feminine author behind the work of Shakespeare.

“I feel like this was the book that I’ve been meant to write my whole life,” Picoult mentioned.

“It’s really a book about how things have changed for women in 400 years – and how they have not changed.”

While Picoult’s e book is, of course, a work of fiction, Bassano was a real-life Elizabethan girl.

Picoult does a nice job of convincing the Hay viewers to not less than contemplate the concept Bassano did write some of Shakespeare’s work, citing various theories she came across during her research.

What is unquestionably truth is that Bassano (later often called Emilia Lanier) was one of the primary feminine revealed poets in England within the early 1600s.

There can also be a principle that she was the Dark Lady who options in lots of of the Bard’s sonnets (though Picoult’s not persuaded).

“The truth is, I did a ton of research for this book. And I’m not going to tell you what to believe, I am just going to present the facts to you,” Picoult mentioned, later including that she thinks a number of individuals most likely wrote Shakespeare’s performs.

Picoult is well-known for her meticulous analysis. If she was an actor, she would positively be an advocate of the strategy method.

“Research for me is actually the most fun part of the book because I get to live other people’s lives,” she says.

“So I have done everything that you see in a book or everything a character does in a book.”

That analysis consists of visiting Death Row for Change of Heart and residing with an Amish household for Plain Truth. Perhaps surprisingly, she says the latter was the “most challenging… they worked so hard, I don’t ever want to do that again!”

Unlike many authors, Picoult’s books are all very completely different, overlaying varied genres together with thrillers, romance, ghost tales and historic fiction.

“I am really, really lucky. I can write about anything I want, and I somehow have readers who go: ‘Great!’ A lot of writers don’t have that luxury,” she says.

“I also think a lot of writers make the mistake of chasing what they think is popular at the moment. I’ve always subscribed to the mantra that if I write what I want to learn, it’s going to be… the best book I can write at that moment. And I’m going to make you as interested as I am the subject.

“I really am this frustrated academic who isn’t in school any more who just wants to learn a lot! I don’t want to write the same book twice. And if I do… that’s probably when I should stop writing.”