In the last year alone, hundreds of books in the UK have been pulled off shelves in censorship attempts. These include Becoming by Michelle Obama, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and Soul Music by Terry Pratchett.
This week is Banned Books Week, an event that celebrates the right to read freely. In recent years, the spotlight has largely been on censorship in the USA, where book banning has ramped up so significantly that a record 7,370 unique titles were challenged in the 2025-26 school year, according to PEN America, and where librarians even face threats of violence.
