Dear Sir, I Intend to Burn Your Book: An Anatomy of a Book Burning

By Lawrence Hill and Ted Bishop

Censorship and book burning are still present in our lives. Lawrence Hill shares his experiences of how ignorance and the fear of ideas led a group in the Netherlands to burn the cover of his widely successful novel, The Book of Negroes, in 2011. Why do books continue to ignite such strong reactions in people in the age of the Internet? Is banning, censoring, or controlling book distribution ever justified? Hill illustrates his ideas with anecdotes and lists names of Canadian writers who faced censorship challenges in the twenty-first century, inviting conversation between those on opposite sides of these contentious issues. All who are interested in literature, freedom of expression, and human rights will enjoy reading Hill's provocative essay.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The University of Alberta Press
• Release date: Mar 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9780888648204

Lawrence Hill

LAWRENCE HILL is the award-winning and internationally bestselling author of The Book of Negroes, which was made into a six-part TV mini-series, and The Illegal, which won CBC’s Canada Reads and was a #1 national bestseller. His previous novels Some Great Thing and Any Known Blood also became national bestsellers. Hill’s non-fiction work includes Blood: The Stuff of Life, the subject of his 2013 Massey Lectures, and Black Berry, Sweet Juice, a memoir about growing up black and white in Canada. Lawrence Hill has volunteered with Crossroads International, the Black Loyalist Heritage Society, Book Clubs for Inmates and the Ontario Black History Society. A professor of creative writing at the University of Guelph, Lawrence Hill lives with his family in Hamilton, Ontario, and Woody Point, Newfoundland. 

Book preview

Reviews for Dear Sir, I Intend to Burn Your Book

[bucketofrhymes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A thoughtful look at racism, history, and censorship.

[vivienner_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Soon after Hill's book The Book of Negroes was made available in the Netherlands, he received a letter from a Dutch resident who informed Hill that he intended to burn the book because of the use of the word "negroes" in the title. The correspondent hadn't read the book, and didn't intend to read it. Hill replied with a very polite letter in part explaining that the title was taken from the name of a military ledger documenting the 3,000 African Americans who fled New York City for Nova Scotia, Canada at the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783. The original document, which is central to the story in Hill's book, is kept in the National Archives in the UK. The story is of particular interest to Hill, a Nova Scotian whose ancestors were African American.The letters brought about this slim book - really no more than an essay - discussing race relations in literature and in life, as well as censorship. Hill ends by saying as far as the issues were concerned in respect to history and the situation of peoples of the African Diaspora, he and his correspondent were on the same page. It is sad that the two were not able to meet and talk over the issue. Both would have been happier. Although it must have been disappointing and frustrating for both men, we readers benefit by this thought-provoking and well-written piece.Note: The Book of Negroes, originally published in Canada, was published in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand as Someone Knows My Name a title his daughter helped him choose.