Preemptively Banning Books is No Way to Curate a Collection

Victoria Waddle surrounded by banned books that she's read including: Beloved by Toni Morrison; The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier; Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya; The Things They Carried by Tim O' Brien; The Color Purple by Alice Walker and several others. — That’s me, surrounded by some of the banned and challenged books that I’ve read. My library book club was meeting after school during Banned Books Week. We were taking photos of the students in front of a height chart to represent being booked for a crime. Each of them had a banned book or two that they’d read. Then they suggested I have a turn, so we gathered some of my favorite books.

I’ve switched to writing almost all my content on my Substack “Be a Cactus: thoughts on resistant writers and how we bloom.” It’s a weekly post delivered on Sunday morning. It’s very similar to what you have received from me in the past:

A book-centered community that acknowledges the real challenges of publishing and celebrates the journey.
Respite for those who haven’t always found conventional inspiration and advice helpful.
A discussion of books and writing that includes work outside the bestseller/literary giants milieu.

In a week or so, I will be emailing my posts with the heading “Victoria Waddle Be a Cactus” (or something close to that). In the meantime, I thought you’d enjoy this article I wrote there.

Preemptively Banning Books is No Way to Curate a Collection

https://victoriawaddle.substack.com/p/preemptively-banning-books-is-no