Calls to ban books have increased in Ohio, and across the country, in recent years. In 2023, the most recent year of data from the American Library Association, there were more than 40 attempts to ban more than 200 books.
The Ohio Writers Association is asking if its new anthology should be placed among those challenged.The group’s latest anthology “Should This Book Be Banned?” explores tough topics – from growing up transgender to sexual abuse within religious spaces – through works of fiction, memoir and poetry.
Joe Graves, president of the Ohio Writers Association and one of the contributors of the anthology, sat down with The Ohio Newsroom to share why the group decided to compile complicated and controversial stories from Ohioans.
On focusing on controversy
“We started it last year. Our board was discussing this increased movement of banning books. And I've never met a writer who was excited about book bans, because we want to be able to write what we feel we should write, get our stories out there and let people decide for themselves whether they should read it. So our board decided to make a statement with this and to acknowledge what's happening, but also uplift stories that might otherwise not have a place … Offering a place where we could hear stories of LGBTQ, stories of immigration and all of these types of themes was very important to us.”
“By putting out an anthology of Ohio writers who are writing stories that some might view as bannable, we're indirectly and, quite frankly, directly supporting anyone or any author that's out there that's being banned. We can cut people's stories out and we can say, ‘We don't want you to access it,’ but you're really cutting people out and their experiences of life. And so we want to [offer] additional stories to the conversation.”
On what portrait of the state emerges through these stories
“Our membership is made up of people all over Ohio and we had people contribute with ties to a variety of places. You see some rural stories, [with] kind of the small town feel, and then there's quite a few that are centered in bigger cities. And you even wrestle with some of those different demographics and political alliances that you find [there].
My day job is a pastor. I was surprised to see how many stories touch on religion and its impact on people, especially vulnerable people. I love the fact that there was a college student that got published and a professor. There's sort of the atheist and agnostic and theological perspective. There's that rural and the urban. And, I mean, that's Ohio, isn't it? There's just a variety of people with different perspectives that are coming to the table and sharing their stories.”
On the impact of the anthology
“One of our board members is Jim Hodnett and this was originally his idea. And he's a gay man and grew up in a small town, away from any mention of LGBTQ… He told me recently that he didn't know what it meant to be gay, but that didn't stop him from being gay. All it did was make him hate himself.
So I don't know the role that this will play in moving the needle in our political space, but I know that, after our launch party, Jim came up to me and gave me a hug and was so happy to have this anthology, to have these stories… I know that it impacts individual people's lives by providing a platform for them to share their stories.”
