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Home > Desert Oracle Radio > Desert Split Open reading series celebrates Banned Books week this Saturday (10/11) at Flamingo Heights Community Center
Podcast: Desert Oracle Radio
Episode:

Desert Split Open reading series celebrates Banned Books week this Saturday (10/11) at Flamingo Heights Community Center
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-10-10 15:52:00
Description:

The Desert Split Open reading series amplifies Banned Books Week this Saturday, October 11 at the Flamingo Heights Community Center, including an open mic to feature poetry, prose, and spoken word, along with three featured readers.

Established in 1982, Banned Books Week was launched in response to the sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. Banned Books Week is an annual event highlighting the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas. Over 4000 books were targeted, challenged, or banned in the U.S. in 2023, nearly double the amount of 2022. Last year, The American Library Association documented 2452 unique titles that were challenged; the third highest number ever documented by the ALA.

Featured readers for Saturday’s local Banned Books event include Desert Split Open founder Susan Rukeyser, author of the novel The Worst Kind of Girl and her brand-new collection Bad Words; Eleanor Whitney, author of Riot Woman; and Gay Douglas, author of Sapphic Theme Hotel. 

Then the mic will open up to anyone who wants to share. In line with Desert Split Open tradition, host Susan Rukeyser says to keep it feminist, queer, or otherwise radical — and brief (6 minutes max). As always at the Desert Split Open, rough drafts and nervous readers are most welcome. Sign up when you arrive. Bring your poems, stories, spoken word, vignettes, rants, spells, etc. Or read to us from a book you love that has been challenged or banned.

The event goes from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the Flamingo Heights Community Center, free and open to the public.

The post Desert Split Open reading series celebrates Banned Books week this Saturday (10/11) at Flamingo Heights Community Center appeared first on Z107.7 FM Joshua Tree.
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