Top Writers Battle Over Award for Charlie Hebdo

A battle is raging among prominent writers over the honoring of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo at an award ceremony Tuesday.Eight Charlie Hebdo staff members were among 12 people killed in a terror attack on Jan. 7 in Paris. Its no-holds-barred humor at the expense of religion makes some defenders of free speech uncomfortable.
According to the latest count, more than 200 have objected to awarding Charlie Hebdo its James C. Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage Award.
In a letter, the writers — including Joyce Carol Oates and Michael Ondaatje — described the attack as "sickening and tragic" but distanced themselves from the award: "There is a critical difference between staunchly supporting expression that violates the acceptable, and enthusiastically rewarding such expression."