By Cliff Bellamy

cbellamy@heraldsun.com; 419-6744

DURHAM -- Authors Toni Morrison, J.K. Rowling, James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence represent different genres and styles of writing from different countries and time periods. But they share at least one common trait: All have at one time or another been subject to challenges from offended readers, or in some cases attempts to purge their works from bookshelves.

In observance of Banned Books Week (which runs through Oct. 3), the Durham County Library will present a series of events focusing on titles that have provoked censorship attempts. The weeklong series of events begins Sunday at the Main Library when local actors will present "Banned Books Onstage." Local actors will perform and read passages from Morrison's "Beloved," Joyce's "Ulysses," Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" and other works.

The American Library Association started Banned Books Week in 1982 to draw attention to the importance of the freedom to read in a democratic society. The association has a Freedom to Read Statement that asserts the right of Americans to read books with divergent and varying ideas, and to draw their own conclusions.

This year is the first time the Durham County Library has presented panel discussions and other events to mark the observance, said Marian Fragola, humanities coordinator for the library. She first broached the idea for "Banned Books Onstage" to Jay O'Berski, who teaches drama and is artistic director of Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern, a local theater company. "He instantly jumped on it," Fragola said. "He went and he recruited some fabulous local talent."

Presenting the books dramatically helps readers see instantly those portions that might spur objections, O'Berski said. "What you can get is a little taste test of what the book might hold. It's a very quick way of deciding if that's something I'd like to explore more" or not. "We're trying to choose passages that distill the problem with the book that people saw fit to challenge," O'Berski said.

He and Fragola hope that Banned Books Week events encourage people to explore new books and authors. Fragola wants people to read and perhaps rediscover some of the books, and what makes them great literature. She cited "Lolita" as a novel with beautiful language and called it "one of the masterpieces of literature." O'Berski calls it a very human love story. Just as "Lolita" is not a salacious book, neither is Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange," another work to be presented, a book of gratuitous violence, but "social critique," O'Berski said.

BANNED BOOKS WEEK EVENTS

Events will be at the Main Library, 300 N. Roxboro St., and are free and open to the public. For information call 560-0268 or visit www.durhamcountylibrary.

- "Banned Books Onstage." Sunday, at 3 p.m. This event features local actors performing excerpts from well-known banned and challenged books including Toni Morrison's Beloved, Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita and James Joyce's Ulysses. Performing actors: Jay O'Berski, Dana Marks, Rajeev Rajendran, Tamara Kissane, Cheryl Chamblee, Joy Jones, Lucius Robinson, Chaunesti Lyon, Lakeisha Coffey and Thaddaeus Edwards.

- "D.H. Lawrence as Pornographer or Prophet: The Case of a Controversial Author," Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. Judith Ruderman, vice provost at Duke University, will discuss public response to D.H. Lawrence and the controversies his works provoked. Lawrence (1885-1930) wrote "Lady Chatterley's Lover," "Sons and Lovers," "Women in Love," as well as poetry and plays.

- "From 'Forever' to 'Harry Potter': Banned Books That Kids (and Adults) Love," Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. Sandra Hughes-Hassell, a national expert in school library media and professor at UNC, and Heather Mitchell, a doctoral candidate at Duke University, will discuss attempts to ban some of the most beloved books of the last 50 years, including Judy Blume's "Forever" and J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter."