Written by Georgia Hilton-Buckley On Friday June 4th, Jeanette Winterson tweeted a photo of burning books, made significantly more interesting because they were her own books. Winterson, famed author of Oranges are not the only fruit and Sexing the Cherry, burned the republished editions of several of her previous works because she detested the ‘cosy’ blurb which sectioned her into ‘wimmin’s fiction’. I have read a few of Winterson’s novels and greatly admired them, but the prospect of burning books greatly upset me. The history of book burning Burning books has always been a symbol of censorship under both the reign of Nazi Germany, the destruction of the Library of Baghdad and the Burning of Jaffna public library. Under ISIS, burning forbidden texts are common acts of taunting Western media and is probably the most recent act of cultural genocide. Although Winterson is burning her own books, it still sends a strong message that literature can be erased. When the author who shall not be named (Creator of Harry Potter) posted a transphobic essay, many …