Aladin Verlag Honors Charlie Hebdo

It’s been over a month since the offices of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo were brutally attacked and the story has dropped from the top of the news. But Klaus Humann, founder of German book publisher Aladin Verlag, following the attack immediately set to work on compiling an anthology of new illustrations as a response in defense of free speech.

“Freedom of speech and expression is a human right and by no means negotiable. We need an open society as much as air to breathe. We have to respect each other regardless of religion, conviction, origin or race. And we will defend the right to express our opinions,” wrote Humann in a letter to over 40 illustrators from Germany, Great Britain, France, Beligum, Australia and the United States, asking them to contribute.

Most responded and the result is Zeichner verteidigen die Meinungs Freiheit – Illustrators Defend Freedom of Speech – with 29 illustrations on the theme from well-known artists as such as Christoph Niemann, Janosch, Chris Riddell, Axel Scheffler, Peter Sís, David Wiesner, Bob Graham and Ralph Steadman, among others. The introduction was written by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’s reviewer Andreas Platthaus – and while his text is in German, the illustrations themselves speak the universal language of the cartoon.

The book is being published by Aladin on February 15, and all proceeds will go to PEN’s Writers in Prison program.