Jodi Picoult to headline first Salt Lake Book Festival after Utah school ban on her novel
Utah removed her novel "Nineteen Minutes" from all public schools under the state's sensitive materials law, and the free festival is at The Gateway on Saturday.
Based on reporting by The Salt Lake Tribune. Read the original story →
Author Jodi Picoult will headline the first Salt Lake Book Festival on Saturday, months after Utah removed her novel "Nineteen Minutes" from all public schools, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. The free all-day festival is at The Gateway and features independent booksellers and artists. [1]
Picoult's talk is ticketed and begins at 6:30 p.m. at West High School's auditorium. She told the Tribune she likes going to places where her books are challenged because audiences there are "hungry to hear a point of view like mine." [1]
Utah's sensitive materials law requires a book to be removed from all public schools if at least three school districts, or two districts and five charter schools, determine it is "objective sensitive material," which the law defines as pornographic or otherwise indecent. Since the law took effect two years ago, 44 titles have been removed. Picoult said she believes her book was banned because it contains the word "erection" on one page, and said she would call her legislators if she lived in Utah. [1]
Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, who sponsored the law, told the Tribune in September that it directs schools to prioritize "protecting children from the harmful effects of illicit pornography." [1]
Sources
This story was written by AI from the report by The Salt Lake Tribune, which has the full story. How we write stories.