Reading March for Freedom and Democracy by Caitlin Roeltgen

On Saturday, 20 September, 2025, the ILFU (International Literary Festival Utrecht) hosted the Lezersmars voor vrijheid en democratie, which translates to Reading March for freedom and democracyin English. It began at the Jaarbeursplein Utrecht, behind Utrecht Centraal. At 12.00, over 1000 people gathered to begin the walk from the Jaarbeursplein, looping around the city center, to the Domplein. People clapped, played drums, and whistled as pedestrians and bikers watched and waited for the train of people to pass. Almost everyone held a book. 

As they walked, participants were instructed to hold their book up in the air. Most did, and many kept their books up the whole three-kilometer walk. The march elicited some positive reactions from passersby as well. 

People clapped, played drums, and whistled as pedestrians and bikers watched and waited for the train of people to pass. Almost everyone held a book.

Families and couples eating at outdoor cafés raised menus and books in solidarity. Travelers with suitcases found books in their bags, a little kid waved a comic book from the doorway of a store, and friends waved to friends and cheered them on. 

The march ended at the Domplein, where four speakers spoke through the rain about censorship, current events, and writing. And then, for two minutes, the group read aloud from their books, voices mixing together. 

But against what censorship? Why did these people come together on a random Saturday in September? PEN (Poets Essays Novelists) International is a group that aims to support writers and literature. They campaign for writers’ freedoms, including in places of turmoil, such as within Gaza. They also focus on global policies and track persecution of writers, all while raising funds to give assistance to targeted writers. This persecution occurs all over the world, and censorship occurs in even more countries. In the Netherlands, there is PEN Nederland, a part of the PEN international network. Both have websites available for more information. 

For me, this march connected on a personal level. Last spring, three books were targeted and removed from my hometown high school’s library in the USA. I was lucky enough to live in a town where the decision could be reversed, and it was  eventually reversed. But that’s not the case for many other towns in the USA. Especially in more republican areas, books are challenged and removed for content that may be deemed “inappropriate”, but most of these books discuss complicated and important topics, like LGBTQ+ inclusion, sexual harassment, and racism. PEN America, another part of the PEN international network, tracks these book bans. In the 2023-24 school year, they tracked 10,046 book bans, with the removal of over 4000 separate titles. These statistics can be found on their website, pen.org, under book bans. Free speech, in general, is seen as under threat by many in the USA, especially as the current government and president, Donald Trump, move to suppress their political opponents. And still, so what? We’re in the Netherlands. Why was there a march here? 

Literature under threat in one place is a threat to it everywhere.

Though censorship is much more limited here, writers still face pushback and social censorship. But there’s also another, even more prominent reason. Because people are people, and everyone deserves their freedom. And because literature isn’t tied to one place. Books travel across oceans, and so can journalistic articles, stories, and connections. Literature under threat in one place is a threat to it everywhere. 

And freedom is essential for democracy. People read to learn, to escape, to become better, and to pass time, but no matter why, they deserve the opportunity to read. Being aware of censorship globally is essential to preserving democracy and freedom, and that was, from my perspective, what the march was trying to spread. Finding connection and solidarity, and, as very often happens, bonding over books.

Read more about the march and organizations at https://lezersmars.ilfu.com/ and https://www.pen-international.org/!