PEN America report points to more than 6,800 cases of book bans in 23 states; Stephen King tops the list of most affected authors
The classic A Clockwork Orangefrom Anthony Burgesswas the most censored work in schools in the United States during the last school year, according to the new report from PEN Americaan organization that monitors freedom of expression in literature. The survey, released this month, identified 23 bans involving the book and a total of 6,870 cases of “book bans” in 87 school districts in 23 states across the country.
The study shows that literary censorship in North American educational environments grew by 171% compared to the period 2022-2023. The practice, according to the entity, has gained strength in recent years driven by conservative movements and new state laws that expand control over the content available to students.
Among the most targeted authors, Stephen King leads the list, with 87 titles banned in different regions — which adds up to 206 occurrences in total. Works by Toni Morrison, Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume and Gabriel García Márquez also appear among the most affected.
Florida remains the epicenter of literary censorship: there were 2,305 cases recorded in 33 school districts, followed by Texas, with 1,781 bans in seven districts. Both states are governed by Republicans and have implemented, in recent years, legislation that *restricts the teaching and discussion of topics such as race, gender and sexuality.
Among these regulations are HB 7, known as the Stop Woke Act, and HB 1557, nicknamed “Don’t Say Gay”, which prohibits debate about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. These provisions have served as the basis for the removal of books that address diversity, civil rights and social inequality.
According to the PEN Americabans usually begin with complaints from parents or organized groups, such as the Moms for Liberty movement, which challenges the content of certain works alleging “inappropriate material”. From there, school committees made up of teachers, parents and administrators decide whether the book should be kept, restricted or removed from libraries.
Although banned titles remain available in bookstores, access is *limited for students, especially those with **low income*, who depend on public and school libraries.
In a statement, the PEN America classified the current scenario as “the biggest wave of literary censorship in recent US history”:
“Never before have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries. Never before have so many politicians tried to intimidate public managers into censoring according to their ideological preferences”, states the report.
The full report and the list of books censored in 2024-2025 are available on the website of PEN Americathe.
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Source: Rollingstone
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