What makes a book dangerous, and who gets to decide what we read? Ever since the beginning of the printed word, books have been burned, banned, smuggled across borders, prosecuted as obscene, condemned as heretical, or suppressed because somebody believed their ideas were simply too dangerous to encounter.

In anticipation of Banned Books Week (10/4-10/10), we’ll take a close look at some of these texts and trace the strange history of literary censorship. Through open discussion and exchange of ideas, we’ll ask what our forbidden books reveal about our deepest fears and the disruptive power of the imagination.

Prepare for an evening devoted to dangerous books, uncomfortable questions, and the exhilarating freedom to think for ourselves.