20 February 2023 - Roald Dahl books rewritten to remove language deemed offensive
Roald Dahl books rewritten to remove language deemed offensive
Hayden Vernon (The Guardian, 18/02:2023)
Roald Dahl’s children’s books are being rewritten to remove language deemed offensive by the publisher Puffin.
Puffin has hired sensitivity readers to rewrite chunks of the author’s text to make sure the books “can continue to be enjoyed by all today”, resulting in extensive changes across Dahl’s work.
Roald Dahl Publisher Edits ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ to Cut the Word ‘Fat’ for ‘Inclusion and Accessibility’
Naman Ramachandran (Variety, 19/02/2023)
Editors at Penguin’s children’s imprint Puffin have taken a red pencil to the works of iconic, but divisive British writer Roald Dahl, known for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Matilda” among many others.
An extensive report by U.K. newspaper The Telegraph says “language related to weight, mental health, violence, gender and race has been cut and rewritten.”
Roald Dahl book rewrites branded 'absurd censorship' by Salman Rushdie
Samuel Osborne (Sky News, 20/02/2023)
The rewriting of Roald Dahl's children books to remove language deemed offensive has been branded "absurd censorship".
Author Sir Salman Rushdie said the publishers, Puffin Books and the Roald Dahl Story Company, "should be ashamed".
Roald Dahl: Don’t gobblefunk around with words!
Sarah Morgan Jones (Nation Cymru, 18/02/2023)
The role of the sensitivity reader in modern publishing is becoming ever more apparent as authors now have to run their fiction through a gatekeeping apparatus which perhaps can be compared to the former film censorship board.
Rows have broken out between prominent authors over the intervention of such readers, who come from a position of ‘lived experience’ and appear to have extraordinary powers to either make a book ‘cancel-proof’ or to end its trajectory entirely if the advice is ignored.