Banned Books Week 2020 (28 September–2 October) takes place four months after George Floyd’s murder led to a global resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and three months after the publication of the Rethinking Diversity in Publishing report, which demonstrated the particular challenges writers of colour still encounter.

Taking Banned Books Week’s theme as its starting point – a celebration of the freedom to read – Sharmaine Lovegrove will lead a panel discussion taking stock of the commitments to inclusion and representation that have been made in publishing over the last few months. With representatives from the books industry – from editors to heads of writers’ organisations – this webinar will explore how we work together to celebrate marginalised voices in literature.

In partnership with the Black Writers’ Guild.

Banned Books Week is presented by the RSL in partnership with English PEN, Index on Censorship and the British Library.