Fireworks in the Library

Conflict lies at the heart of every revolution. It set things off in 1776 and rocks our politics today. Great writers also embrace conflict as a tool to move society forward. Authors like Edna O' Brien chafed at the injustices promoted by organized religion and sexist norms. Though her books are revered today, they once served as fuel for library bonfires.

People with a strong creative impulse often find themselves at odds with society. O'Brien felt suffocated by a religious education and poured her discontent into The Country Girls, a tale of independent girls who resisted the constrictions forced on Irish women. Her work -- which advocated birth control -- was banned, burned and belittled before it catapulted her to the top of the literary heap.

Practically every work O'Brien wrote was censored by the Irish government under the Censorship of Publications Act of 1929. The authorities found her stories to be "indecent or obscene". But she later won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish Book Awards in Dublin, as well as the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

It's a quiet day today, but a writer can find the seeds of conflict anywhere. There are firecrackers shaking the forest while mountain laurels explode across the hills. Tonight, those rowdy fireflies will be back and the fireworks will start again. So much rebellion, so much material, right here in our woods.