The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library will mark Banned Books Week with six days of films, readings, performances and conversations about censorship and free expression. The Indianapolis museum’s programs run October 4–9, 2026, under the theme “What We Owe Each Other.”
“Banned Books Week, everyone’s favorite week at the KVML, highlights our commitment to free speech and common decency,” said Julia Whitehead, the museum’s founder and CEO. “This year, we invite our community to join us in championing and exploring free expression and the ways it shapes our shared cultural and social responsibilities.”
Award-winning author and Purdue University English professor Brian Leung will serve as artist-in-residence. Throughout the week, he will live inside the museum surrounded by a wall of banned books, share his writing and take part in discussions.
The schedule also includes a screening of filmmaker Andy Kirshner’s Sex Radical, which examines the life of Ida Craddock and the history of the 1873 Comstock laws. Author John Hendrickson, whose book Life on Delay: Making Peace with a Stutter recounts his experiences, will discuss shame, fear and self-censorship.
In partnership with the ACLU Banned Book Club, the museum will host a conversation about Kurt Vonnegut’s frequently challenged novel Cat’s Cradle. A series presented in collaboration with the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles will bring additional works into the discussion. Dr. Lasana Kazembe of IU Indianapolis will lead a conversation on The 1619 Project with Deborah Asante of the Asante Art Institute and Natalie Pipkin of Black Worldschoolers.
Sonia Matheus will guide a discussion on forgiveness centered on Simon Wiesenthal’s The Sunflower. She will also perform Roman Ryterband’s Trois Ballades Hébraïques with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra harpist Claire Thai. Whitehead will explore Vonnegut’s short story “D.P.” and welcome past and new museum volunteers at a reception introducing volunteer coordinator Becki Roach.
Located in the historic Indiana Avenue cultural district, the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library celebrates the work and legacy of the Indianapolis-born author through exhibitions, education and public programs. Its Banned Books Week schedule invites visitors to consider how censorship affects what people can read, say and share.
