OFF THE SHELF: CRITICS ON THE DEATH OF CRITICISM; THE DEBATE OVER BARBARA COLOROSO’S EXTRAORDINARY EVIL; FROM BOOK TO PURSE
Ronald Nurwisah

National Post
May 28 2008
Canada

A weekly roundup of what’s going on in the book world in Canada
and abroad:

A couple of book critics from Salon (Laura Miller and Pierre Bayard)
gnash their teeth over whether their jobs are obsolete. Who’s to blame:
academics, bloggers, videogames?

After 340 years and a list of 22 men that reads like a high school
literature textbook, the organizers of a high-profile British literary
festival are asking the Queen to consider appointing a woman to the
post of poet laureate when current laureate Andrew Motion steps down
next year. The poet laureate is responsible for writing poems to mark
special occasions.

The Toronto District School Boards sparked controversy last week
when it pulled another book from its classrooms. This time around,
it’s Barbara Coloroso’s Extraordinary Evil, a book that examines
genocide through the lens of the Armenian uprising, the Holocaust
and the Rwandan genocide.

Members of the Turkish community objected to the portrayal of the
Armenian genocide in Coloroso’s book.

The board has received condemnation from various people in the
literary community. Patsy Aldana, publisher at Groundwood books,
is no stranger to censorship by the TDSB. Their book Three Wishes,
which looked at children in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was
pulled by the board. Here are some of Aldana’s comments:

What is offensive in your decision is that it reflects what seems
to have become the TDSB’s habitual response to pressure – get rid
of books that are "problematic." This is a Grade 11 course – thus
obviating the weasel words "age inappropriate" used in the THREE WISHES
case. Is Barbara Coloroso’s argument unworthy of being considered,
discussed, debated?

Barbara Coloroso’s publisher David Davidar also comes to his author’s
defense here.

If you’re anything like me you probably have a few handsome but
seldom-read hardcover books lying around. This neat DIY project turns
a hardcover book into a handbag or in my case, a man-bag.