Jennifer Wenn
February 20th marks the start of Freedom to Read Week, which looks to highlight Canadian authors while also highlighting the protection of media in Canada.
This year’s Freedom to Read week carries even more importance, with many parts of the United States looking to implement more and more book bans.
Most of these book bans are being spearheaded by conservative lawmakers, politicians, and parent groups spearheading the movement.
To help bring more attention to Freedom to Read Week, the London Public Library’s Byron Branch held a Freedom to Read Poverty and Trivia Night to start off the week with a bang!
The event was helped organized in part by Librarian and supervisor Deborah Franke, who was able to have local poets Jennifer Wenn, and Tom Prime read excerpts from their works.
“This week is really special to our libraries, and we want to help our communities celebrate this week, because, of course, we love poetry, literature, and providing books and information to the community,” Franke said.
Franke also drew attention to the displays surrounding the room, showcasing various banned books across the States and Canada.
Display of different banned books in the United States and Canada
After the trivia portion of the night, they went on to introduce the first poet of the night Jennifer Wenn, a trans woman who started writing in early 2017, basing her poems on her own experiences and transition.
“Well, I’d always wanted to do something creative but I was never able to, after I transitioned I had access to all of myself and was able to write more freely,” Wenn said.
Wenn spoke more about the ongoing censorship in parts of the states, as some other Canadians echo similar views.
“These bans illuminate something that eliminates access to people’s voices, you don’t hear these stories, you can’t read the truth’ Wenn said.
After Wenn read excerpts from her book Hear the Silence, Tom Prime, author of five poetry chapbooks, went to also read from his works.
Prime is also a relatively new writer, with an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Victoria and a BA at Western University, as he is working also to get his Ph.D. from Western.
He went on to also describe his own writing process, taking heavily from his childhood growing up homeless while struggling with addiction after being abused physically, sexually, and emotionally.
“I was homeless for quite a while, with my writing I’m talking about my own personal experiences, but at the same time there are people out there going through the same thing,” Prime said.
After Wenn and Prime finished their readings, attendees had the chance to speak further with the, and take a look at some of the books on display, as Franke finished off the event with some parting words.
“Freedom to Read, to me is about encouraging Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedoms and to just the love that we have of words and language and literature, and creativity.” Franke finished.
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