With elected officials across the US engaging in censorship, book banning, and even threatening to burn books, we asked one simple question: What if they couldn’t? In response to this wave of censorship, we worked with Penguin Random House to create an unburnable edition of The Handmaid’s Tale made entirely from fireproof materials. Then, we got the author herself, Margaret Atwood to test it with a flamethrower.
The Unburnable Book launched at the 2022 PEN America Literary Gala and the one-of-a-kind copy was auctioned off at Sotheby’s New York for $130,000 with all proceeds going to support PEN America.