April 1, Pozirk. The information ministry has announced 27 new additions to the list of printed publications banned for distribution in Belarus, claiming they are “harmful to national interests.”
The register now features Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956 by American historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ann Applebaum and Let’s Talk About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends by Robie Harris.
Other additions include fiction by well-known authors, such as Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2004, Coin Locker Babies by Ryū Murakami, The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne, Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, and three books by popular Swedish author Fredrik Backman.
The information ministry’s banned books list now features 92 entries branded as “harmful.” Book and print media traders are advised to remove these items from sale. The official definition of “harmful” often covers print publications on history or LGBTQ issues, among others.
