Belarus bans dozens of books, including Applebaum and Mitchell titles

Belarus’s Ministry of Information has expanded its blacklist of literature deemed by officials to potentially harm national interests. The list now includes 92 books.

Among the newly banned titles is a second book by journalist and historian Anne Applebaum, the wife of Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. This time, officials targeted her work Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944–1956. Her earlier book on the Gulag had already been blacklisted.

Officials also labeled David Mitchell’s novel Cloud Atlas as dangerous for Belarusian readers. The book was adapted into a 2012 film of the same name by directors Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, and Lilly Wachowski. Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin also made the list; the novel inspired Bob Fosse’s iconic film Cabaret starring Liza Minnelli. The reason cited for the ban was LGBTQ+ themes.

Other blacklisted books include The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, adapted into a film by Sofia Coppola; It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health by Robie H. Harris; Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin; A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood; and A Home at the End of the World by Michael Cunningham.

Also banned were Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz; Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters; Lie With Me by Philippe Besson; The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne; Sarah by J. T. LeRoy; I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai; The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky; Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu; and The Locker Room Children by Ryu Murakami.

Three novels by Fredrik Backman—Beartown, Us Against You, and The Winners—were also included, as well as Nora Sakavic’s The Foxhole Court, The Raven King, and The King’s Men. The Captive Prince series by C. S. Pacat, Boy Erased by Garrard Conley, and The Survivor’s Dilemma by Kristina Dwyer also appear on the blacklist.