Controversial bestselling author Irshad Manji spoke at U of T on Tuesday evening as part of a panel discussion on the topic of self-censorship. The talk, which took place at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, was in celebration of Freedom to Read Week.
Host and mediator Sandra Martin, a Globe and Mail arts writer, described self-censorship as “the holding back we do to ourselves [because] what we really want to say won’t sell.”
The panel also included author Susan Swan and McClelland & Stewart associate publisher Susan Renouf.
Swan, author of The Wives of Bath, talked about her own struggles with self-censorship in an age when writers must increasingly be concerned with the marketability of their work.
“The publishing culture now is under a lot of pressure to make a 10-to-15 per cent profit,” Swan said. “Writers can be marginalized if we don’t sell a lot of books.” Renouf explained that since the cost of libel insurance-insurance that would allow writers to speak freely even on controversial subjects-has escalated dramatically, more and more publishers are choosing simply not to buy it. Without that security, Renouf said, “perhaps it makes us more conservative.”
Manji, author of the bestselling book The Trouble with Islam, said that when writing a book, making an emotional commitment is important in not censoring oneself. Manji said that when she was writing The Trouble with Islam, she asked Salman Rushdie-famous for being the target of death threats for his book The Satanic Verses, and who was advising her at the time-why he would encourage her to write a book that would likely lead to threats to her life.
“Because a book is more important than a life,” Rushdie said.
“I couldn’t convince myself that he was wrong,” said Manji. “That’s when I knew I made the emotional commitment.” Manji said that writers will often censor themselves because they are afraid of other people’s reactions, but that doing so usually lessens the quality of their writing.
“I don’t think you can write a serious piece of literature… with blinders on your creativity,” said Martin.
Swan said that, for her, the question always comes down to: “Am I going to take a chance and be more innovative?”
Audience member Elizabeth Mitches told The Varsity that she felt Freedom to Read Week is important because “we take for granted that we do have access to literature and to news that’s out there.”
Freedom to Read Week, partly sponsored by the University of Toronto Bookstore, has been held annually for 26 years and aims to increase awareness of issues surrounding intellectual freedom among Canadians. Freedom to Read Week runs until Feburary 26 and includes a talk by Canadian director Norman Jewison at 7:30 pm on Thursday at St. Barnabas Anglican Church.
