The Freedom to Read: Q&A with North Dakota Author Taylor Brorby
The Freedom to Read: Q&A with North Dakota Author Taylor Brorby
In North Dakota and across the country, a growing number of books are being challenged or banned from school and public libraries. These efforts, often driven by a vocal minority, threaten the fundamental right to read and access information. In this Q&A series, we feature four North Dakota authors who have joined the conversation about censorship, book challenges, and the importance of intellectual freedom.
This week, we feature Taylor Brorby. We asked him to share his perspective on the current climate and what we can all do to support the right to read.
- 1. What are your thoughts on the growing number of book bans and challenges across the country?
Insanity. This crusade is led by dangerous buffoons. Yes, they don't read books, but they *do* acknowledge that books have power–that's why they're so hellbent on promoting censorship and removing books from library collections. Like any schoolyard bully, they lead with intimidation, which can have a reactionary effect: libraries buying fewer of the books they need to be carrying in their collection to represent the variety of human (and nonhuman) experience.
2. Have any of your books ever been challenged or censored? If so, what was that experience like for you?
Thank god, to my knowledge, none. I wrote those babies to keep them on the shelves, to help people feel less alone, and to maybe help give a roadmap of how (not) to navigate the world with a caring and compassionate heart.
3. Has this climate of censorship changed how you approach your writing or the topics you choose to explore?
It's made me more committed to my writing. I'm writing like my mind is on fire. I've recommitted to my charge to Make the Great Plains Gay Again (after all, someone has to give Willa Cather a run for her money).
4. What message would you share with those who are challenging or banning books?
Get a hobby. Go to therapy. Maybe read a book, for once, instead of promoting a boogeyman theory. What's the worst that could happen? You change your mind–which you are clearly in desperate need of anyway.
5. What can people in North Dakota do to push back against censorship and support the right to read?
Get on their library and school boards. Run for elected office. People need to get involved beyond just tweeting about it.
About the Author
Photo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YOl0wz2hXdDA72GyPijHXmi-kOD0ZTpR/view?usp=sharing
Bio: Taylor Brorby grew up in North Dakota and is the author of Boys and Oil: Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land, Crude: Poems, Coming Alive: Action and Civil Disobedience, and co-editor of Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America. He has been published in The New York Times, The Nation, and The Huffington Post and has been interviewed about his work on NPR and MSNBC. Taylor regularly speaks around the country on issues related to extractive economies, queerness, disability, and climate change. In 2026, he will be the Rachel Carson Distinguished Fellow at Chatham University.
Website: https://taylorbrorby.com/