Book Sanctuary

I was shocked by a news item I read this week regarding an honorary degree for playwright Tony Kushner. It transpired that, shortly after being awarded the degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, the institution’s board of trustees vetoed the award due to Kushner’s supposed ‘anti-Israel’ views. This is wrong on many levels, but the main issue is the idea that a University, a place of learning and debate, would reject an accomplished artist due to political views.

To make one important disclosure, I’m a big admirer or Tony Kushner. As an undergraduate student I was inspired, both emotionally and artistically, when I read Angels in America. It is a terrific play, and the TV mini-series, also written by Kushner, is in my opinion as good as the original. It’s a play that represents a range of themes from 1980s New York; gay rights and homophobia, corruption and, prominently, HIV and Aids. It really is powerful writing, and even those who don’t want to read the play should at least watch the all-star cast mini-series, which is some of the finest television I have ever seen.

So, Kushner praise aside, my main point is that this institution made a grave error in punishing an artist for political views. Whether they interpreted his beliefs correctly is irrelevant (though they seem to have been selective and taken Kushner's comments out of context), they should not veto honorary degrees if the recipients political views upset a trustee. If a trustee decides that the artist has expressed views they consider contrary to US state policy, those are not grounds to withhold an accolade such as this. Honorary degrees have previously been withdrawn from political leaders who have demonstrably violated human rights, or have been accused of inciting hatred through their actions. This blog isn’t going to get drawn into naming names, but suffice to say there is a difference between these crimes and the supposed crime of Kushner in the eyes of one trustee; having a reasoned, intellectual opinion on an important political issue.

Thankfully, there was significant uproar about the decision and the board of trustees quickly backtracked, promptly restoring the degree to Kushner. That is only right, but it is disappointing that a University, of all places, should have attempted to censor an artist’s justifiable opinion and belief.

There are some interesting things happening in publishing and eBooks at present, so more blog posts are on the way regarding these. We will also be announcing our first publications in the very near future.

Until next time,

Thomas