Ashley Hope Pérez is a literary scholar, novelist, youth advocate, and educator. Across these areas, she explores the ethical implications of how we tell, read, mediate, and interpret narratives. Her recent book of literary criticism, Deformative Fictions: Narrative Ethics and Cruelty in Twentieth-Century Latin American Literature (2024), considers how difficult works of fiction disrupt readers’ attempts to make sense of narrated cruelty, what we can do in response, and how these uncomfortable encounters matter for our understanding of narrative ethics. 

As one of the most frequently banned writers in the United States since 2021, Pérez uses her insights and experiences to advocate for students and their right to learn, grow, and access diverse literature. Her anthology Banned Together: Our Fight for Readers' Rights (2025) brings together banned writers to share their experiences, inform readers about the works of literature disappearing from library shelves, and empower them with ways to fight back. Her newly designed course, CS 4021: Banned Books and the Cost of Censorship, fulfills the GE Citizenship for a Just and Diverse World theme. In 2024, she secured a $500,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to fund the Unite to Read Project at The Ohio State University.

URP is an innovative, two-year initiative to engage the university community and the public in efforts to expand access to literature and engage communities in meaningful discussions about books and ideas. It brings together university experts, community advocates, and a network of partner organizations to develop high-quality educational materials and public programming.  Through virtual programming, URP highlights both the literary significance of books facing removal from libraries and the broader implications of censorship. These initiatives include author discussions, and a multi-week virtual institute designed to provide training, material resources, and funding to support creative initiatives that promote access to literature. Anchored in creativity, education, and collaboration, URP fosters transformative action in support of young people’s right to read. To learn more about URP events and programming, please complete the URP interest form: bit.ly/4gTK10K. 

For more information about the epidemic of book-banning and censorship in the U.S. and opportunities to act, visit https://linktr.ee/ashleyhopeperez.