Seized Books!

by Sarah Pyke & Leila Kassir
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'Seized Books! LGBTQ+ books and censorship in 1980s Britain: A catalogue' describes the publications that were wrongly confiscated from the UK's first lesbian and gay bookshop, Gay's the Word, by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, from 10th April 1984 onwards. A print version of an online exhibition hosted by Senate House Library, the catalogue explores a large list of gay and lesbian publications, from zines, poems and novels to non-fiction. 'Seized Books!' shifts the focus from the repressive interventions of the British state to the exuberance and liberation of LGBTQ+ publishing and bookselling in the early 1980s, and shows how queer communities continue to defend their freedom to read, even in a climate of increasing censorship.