PANZ has responded to the interim ban on distribution of the
award-winning book Into the
River by Ted Dawe. ‘Into
the River is a highly regarded piece of literature, charged
with influencing and changing the lives of many of its teenage male readers.
This is an unprecedented and extreme action by the Film and Literature Board of
Review. Banning books is not the New Zealand way,’ said Melanie Laville-Moore,
PANZ President. PANZ has voiced these concerns in a letter to the President of
the Film and Literature Board of Review to ask the board to reverse its
decision.Penguin Random House New Zealand, the publisher of Into the River, is disappointed that the Film and Literature Board of Review has issued an interim order to restrict distribution of this award-winning book.
Into the River was chosen as the 2013 New Zealand Post Margaret Mahy Book of the Year by a respected panel of judges. The book deals with difficult issues such as bullying and racism, which are topics adolescents should be able to read about as they may well experience these issues in their own lives.
Penguin Random House believes that young people benefit from having access to coming of age books that help them to understand the complex society in which they live.
'Freedom of expression is a universal democratic right. Therefore, it’s surprising when one of the most democratic countries in the world, New Zealand, censors Ted Dawe’s brilliant Into the River. The IPA supports and applauds the book’s publisher Penguin Random House and the Publishers Association of New Zealand in their stand against this dangerous and unnecessary attempt to throttle an author’s voice,’ said International Publishers Association President, Richard Charkin.
The NZ Society of Authors, NZ Book Council, Booksellers NZ, LIANZA, the School Libraries Association of NZ, Storylines Trust and more have deplored the ban.
Overseas, the ban on Into the River has rated news items on CNN, and three features in UK’s Guardian newspaper. The Guardian’s 9 September issue said:
Readers and authors around the world have vowed to buy and read the novel in solidarity with Dawe. The award-winning young adult author James Dawson told the Guardian: “History does not look kindly on the banning, or indeed burning, of books. This is the worst kind of censorship, and doubly surprising from a country like New Zealand which is in so many ways forward-thinking. On the plus side, I hadn’t previously heard of this title, but you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be seeking it out now.”
The Guardian even ran a feature titled: Can you pick the quotes from Ted Dawe's banned novel Into the River? They listed 8 quotes from the book and beside each was a quote drawn from another source ranging from the Bible to Lord of the Flies, The Catcher in the Rye, Lady Chatterley’s Lover and more – entertaining reading, it has to be said.
Book bans are counter productive; they give the oxygen of publicity and unintentionally promote the titles they want to see censored. In this case, they likely will ensure that one New Zealand author receives well deserved recognition and publication in international markets and also draw attention to the high standard of our young adult novels.
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