Novelist: Christian Right

Often Behind Censorship

 

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

 

Novelist Chris Crutcher has gotten used to school boards

 ordering his books pulled from the shelves of school libraries. In 2005, his novel Whale Talk was banned by a school board in northern Alabama. That same year, South Carolina Department of Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum said she enjoyed reading the book, but took Whale Talk off a list of books recommended for high school sophomores, citing the strong language.

    Crutcher is a former high school teacher and therapist. He

lives in Spokane, Washington. Crutcher answered email questions from bannedmagazine.com Editor Joshua B. Good in June of 2007. The following is an excerpt of the interview:

 

Why do you think school board members react the way they do to your writing?

 

    They get pressured most times by the Christian Right, who are organized and loud when they want something censored, and sometimes the boards themselves are infiltrated by the Christian Right.  In most cases they just don't want what they consider negative publicity.  I'm afraid there are very few school boards who stand up for educators.

Can teenagers handle realism in literature?

 

    Of course they can.  They handle it in their lives.

What do you say to school boards that want to shelter youths from strong language?

 

    I say "Good luck."

What do you say to parents who want to shelter their children from strong language?

 

    Same thing.

Does censorship work?

 

    It works for me.  Every time I get censored a whole bunch of people who would have no idea who I am, discover who I am.  That's the tongue-in-cheek answer.  The other answer is of course it doesn't work.  Usually it has the opposite effect because adolescents, who are already in a state of "pushing away," have something more to push away from.  You also can't censor a book in a country that has Barnes and Noble and Amazon on line. 

Has censorship hurt or helped your writing career?

 

    Actually it probably hasn't had a lot of effect either way.  I suppose it gets me more exposure, but my writing isn't about that.  My stories come from real places and all I'm trying to do in my writing is tell a good story and reflect what I see in the world.  I'd do that either way.

Have you toned down your writing because of reactions from school boards?

 

    Not even a little.

Have any of your other works been censored?

 

    I can tell you that most of my books have been challenged or banned.  I don't have a specific history, but all of them except my adult novel, The Deep End, and (I believe) my memoir, King of the Mild Frontier, have been before the censors.

 

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Post Comments About This Story.

 

Read story about the nationwide censorship of Whale Talk here.

 

Read story about Limestone County, Alabama's censorship of Whale Talk here.

 

Read Crutcher's open letter to Limestone County, Alabama, where his book was banned.

 

Chris Crutcher’s web site is www.chriscrutcher.com. His next book, Deadline, is scheduled to be released on September 1, 2007.