MEDIA RELEASE – For Immediate Release
8 September 20015
Book's banning 'exceedingly troubling'
The decision by the President of the Film and Literature Board of Review, Dr Don Mathieson, QC, to issue an Interim
Restriction Order banning the sale or distribution of Auckland author Ted Dawe's award-winning novel for teenagersInto the River, is exceedingly troubling, says New Zealand Society of Authors President, Kyle Mewburn.
"After arguing a minority, losing case, the Review Board President appears to have made a unilateral decision to slap a
total ban on the book," said Mewburn. "The decision seems to be entirely based on personal morals rather than any
professional advice or objective judgement. If so, it's a seriously troubling development which has less to do with
'protecting young people', and more to do with pushing a particular worldview."
"The book has been comprehensively considered and discussed by professionals including librarians and teachers; people
in daily contact with the book's target readership. The overwhelming majority view of these professionals was that Into the River presents a brutal and challenging reality which is, sadly, faced by many teenagers, making it an important and timely
book."
“Dr Mathieson’s decision is also at odds with our National Annual Awards for outstanding Children’s and Young Adult
Literature, the 2013 judges having unanimously identified Dawe’s book as the year’s overall winner. The furore at the
time appeared to be largely generated by people who objected to the book’s content on moral or religious grounds - often
without reading it.
“Initial attempts to censor this book were defeated, in large part by the unwavering support and efforts of librarians
and other professionals in the field. It is a concern to see the saga continue against their considered advice.
“One of NZSA's functions is to guard against any erosion of our right to freedom of opinion and freedom of expression,
which this decision comes perilously close to doing. As writers we strongly object to the curtailing of readers’ rights
to access literature on the basis that it is deemed to offend a specific moral viewpoint. Not since 1961 when James
Courage’s novel A Way of Love was banned have we seen this scale of assault on New Zealand literature.”