Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library Welcomes David Brancaccio for Banned Books Week

INDIANAPOLIS - Sept. 20, 2016 - PRLog -- From September 26th through September 30th, the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library (KVML) in Indianapolis, Indiana will celebrate the freedom to read by hosting a series of events for the American Library Association's Banned Books Week. The week's highlights include a keynote address by National Book Award winner and often banned author Jacqueline Woodson on Thursday, September 29th at DePauw University and a "Secretary of the Future" discussion led by Marketplace Morning Report's David Brancaccio on Friday, September 30th at Shortridge High School.

KVML is a nonprofit museum and cultural resource center dedicated to championing the life of Hoosier author Kurt Vonnegut and the principles of free expression, common decency and peaceful coexistence he advocated. Since its founding in 2009, more than 200,000 people have visited the museum or attended its arts and humanities programming.

The American Library Association's Banned Books Week raises awareness about the value of free and open access to information, and KVML has been participating in Banned Books Week for five years. Every year, KVML hosts an artist, writer, or scholar who lives in its museum for the entire week, trapped behind a "prison" wall of banned books, just as banned books are kept away from readers. This year, artist & author Josh Johnson will live in KVML, writing and illustrating a children's book from start to finish.

"We invite everyone to come visit during Banned Books Week to talk with the young man who chooses to stay in our front window 24 hours a day to raise awareness about the importance of  freedom of speech and freedom to read whatever we choose to read," said Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library Founder and CEO Julia Whitehead. "These freedoms are often taken for granted until someone takes them away. An election year is an especially important time to come learn about Kurt Vonnegut."

The week will culminate in events on Thursday and Friday evening. National Book Award winner and the Poetry Foundation's Young People's Poet Laureate, Jacqueline Woodson, will speak about her experience being banned on Thursday evening at DePauw University. Then on Friday evening, Marketplace Morning Report's David Brancaccio will lead a forum exploring Vonnegut's idea of a "Secretary of the Future." Kurt Vonnegut said "I'll tell you...one thing that no Cabinet has ever had is a Secretary of the Future, and there are no plans at all for my grandchildren and my great grandchildren." Speakers at the forum include Nanette Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut's daughter;  Aman Brar, President, Apparatus; Terrian Barnes, Owner, Fe-smart LLC; Sam Van Aken, visual artist; and Jason Kelly, Director, IUPUI Arts and Humanities Institute.

Additional programming during the week includes a discussion of the controversy caused by Dungeons and Dragons; a mock mediation between parents and administrators about contested books presented in partnership with the IU McKinney School of Law; and a "Censorship and Women's Bodies" panel discussion that will examine the history of censoring female-identified bodies. Panelists include Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate Christina Hale, Kit Malone of Freedom Indiana, and author Betsy Blankenbaker. A full schedule of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library's Banned Books Week can be found at vonnegutlibrary.org/events/bannedbooksweek (http://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/events/bannedbooksweek/).

All events are free and open to the public, but some events do require advance registration. Banned Books Week is sponsored by Bluebeard Restaurant, Christian Theological Seminary, Clustertruck, DePauw University, Gen Con LLC, IU McKinney School of Law and the Writing Program, IUPUI English Department, and WFYI. You can also donate to Banned Books Week at vonnegutlibrary.org/donate (http://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/donate) or by sending a check to the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, 340 N. Senate Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46204.

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For more information, please contact Julia Whitehead at julia.whitehead@vonnegutlibrary.org