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Canadian publishers Douglas & McIntyre and prize-winning Dene author Richard Van Camp (a member of the Dogrib Tłįchǫ Dene Nation) are disappointed and angered over the news his bestselling novel The Lesser Blessed is to be removed from school libraries in his home city of Edmonton.
The Edmonton school board confirmed on August 29 it was removing some 200 titles from its libraries in response to a ministerial order signed by Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides in July. In addition to The Lesser Blessed, the list included such renowned works as The Diviners by Margaret Laurence, Friend of My Youth by Alice Munro, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
The Lesser Blessed has been a staple in Canadian schools for three decades and is the subject of a 2012 movie directed by Anita Doron.
While parts of Nicolaides' ministerial order have since be paused, with a new ministerial order coming shortly, the episode has signaled a lack of understanding from government about the role of professional publishers, teachers and librarians in ensuring a healthy education system.
Author statement: “It's just so terribly predictable that book banning is part of a playbook by the United Conservative Party of Alberta to keep the public distracted from the larger issues of unchecked resource extraction, the selling of public healthcare for private, etc. etc. Don't be distracted, my friends. Yes, by all means, be mad but get involved politically. Write and call your elected officials. Go to the demonstrations. As for book banning, I've always loved what Stephen King said years ago: "When books are banned from school libraries, run to your public library, or the nearest bookstore, and read what it is your elders don't want you to know." I also love what Isaac Asimov said: "Any book with banning is a book worth reading." I'm in great company with all these "banned" treasured reads. Enjoy The Lesser Blessed when you're ready for a gut punch through your soul with an ending lit with hope.
The Lesser Blessed turns 30 next year and it continues to move readers in ways I've always wished for. I'm grateful to Douglas & McIntyre for publishing me, and I am especially grateful to my editor Barbara Pulling. Mahsi cho. Thank you.
Bravo and mahsi cho to the Edmonton Public School Board for choosing books that mean so much to so many just knowing this would enrage us and further unite us all against a provincial government that continues to ignore what so many Albertans want for themselves, for each other and for future generations: public healthcare, safe communities and happy classrooms—for teachers and students, etc. etc. :)
Anger and outrage is how great revolutions begin.” – Richard Van Camp