City Lights Celebrates Banned Books Week

It's almost the end of Banned Books Week! Before the festivities come to a close, don't forget to check out the party at the City Lights Blog, Abandon All Despair Ye Who Enter Here, for a brief history lesson about Allen Ginsberg's Howl on trial.

In solidarity with our friends in the book community during Banned Books Week; the librarians, authors, journalists, bookstores, publishers, teachers, and most importantly – readers, the City Lights crew would like to share the infamous history of Howl on Trial: The Battle for Free Expression, a story not merely about defending Allen Ginsberg‘s revolutionary work, Howl and Other Poems, but the greater importance of accessibility and creative freedom in American society.

Published in 2006 and edited by Nancy J. Peters, former publisher of City Lights, and Beat historian Bill Morgan compiled in painstaking detail a collection of courtroom transcripts, letters, timelines, and photographs into a book that outlines the events surrounding the monumental court case directly involving publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights store manager Shigeyoshi Murao. One could say many more were involved including other bookstores, printers, and the numerous witnesses who defended the literary merit of Howl and Other Poems on the stand. [...]