Book News

Reporters Without Borders condemns the decision by Burmese magazine distributor Inwa Publications not to sell Time Magazine ' s July issue , which has cover story about the Burmese Buddhist monk Ashin Wirathu headlined The Face of Buddhist Terror.

The media freedom organization is also appalled by the government's endorsement of this censorship and calls for the ban to be lifted at once:

By taking this decision, Inwa Publications went far beyond its role as a distributor and abusively assumed politically-motivated censorship powers, going so far as to argue that this was justified by the recent closure of the government office for prior censorship, the PSRD.

As Time Magazine 's sole distributor in Burma, this privately-owned company is violating media freedom and the Burmese public's right to information. We are also extremely disturbed by the government's subsequent decision to ban Time Magazine 's sale in any form. At a time when Burma's media law is still being drafted, it reflects an attitude that is completely contrary to the fundamental principles that should govern media law reform.

Deputy information minister Ye Htut, who is also spokesperson for the president's office, announced that Time Magazine was banned from social networks. The president's office objected to the juxtaposition of the words Buddhist and terror, saying it creates a misunderstanding of Buddhism and undermined efforts to defuse tension after violence in which many civilians have died or have been driven from their homes.

A sexy novel written by the Irish Minister for Justice Alan Shatter 24 years ago has prompted him to transfer responsibility for censorship out of his department.

A ludicrous complaint to the Censorship of Publications Board alleging that his novel, Laura: A Story You Will Never Forget , is somehow obscene posed a dilemma for the Minister whose department has ultimate responsibility for the board.

In response he has decided to shift responsibility for censorship out of Justice to the Department of Arts and Heritage. A Government spokesman said the Minister had made the decision in case there was any suggestion of a conflict of interest on the part of Shatter.

A complaint about the book's sex scenes was lodged with the censorship board over a month ago. The complaint also claims that the novel advocates the procurement of an abortion or miscarriage, contrary to Irish censorship laws.

Update: Cashing In

25th June 2013. See  article from  herald.ie

Justice Minister Alan Shatter's raunchy first novel Laura has been reprinted and hits the bookshelves today.

A spokeswoman for Poolbeg Press said:

We have had very good support for the reprint of the book from stores like Easons, Tesco, Dunnes Stores, with a good response also from Dubray and other independent book stores.

Women will enjoy the book. It's written in 1989 but the issues it raises are still very relevant and it has tough questions to ask.

We've decided to keep the original cover. It has become quite iconic.

Shatter is expected to do one or two high-profile interviews to promote the book. When Poolbeg approached him about reprinting the book, he said he was very happy with it .

Vice magazine recreated the means of suicide of seven female literary icons in a fashion spread called Last Words. But this morning, Vice, which normally prides itself on refusing to bow to the gods of political correctness, has removed the post from its website following general 'outrage' after the spread was published online. The images are still available in the print edition.

Vice said in a statement to the NY Observer:

Last Words is a fashion spread featuring models re-enacting the suicides of female authors who tragically ended their own lives. It is part of our 2013 Fiction Issue, one that is entirely dedicated to female writers, photographers, illustrators, painters, and other contributors.

The fashion spreads in VICE magazine are always unconventional and approached with an art editorial point-of-view rather than a typical fashion photo-editorial one. Our main goal is to create artful images, with the fashion message following, rather than leading.

Last Words was created in this tradition and focused on the demise of a set of writers whose lives we very much wish weren't cut tragically short, especially at their own hands. We will no longer display Last Words on our website and apologize to anyone who was hurt or offended.

A sexy novel written by Ireland's Justice Minister, Alan Shatter, has been referred to the Censorship office. Book censors are set to investigate whether Laura: A Story You Will Never Forget is too obscene for Irish readers.

The book, which the minister wrote 24 years ago, contains steamy sex scenes and centres around the troubled private life of an Oireachtas member who is having an affair with his secretary. At one point in the book, the fictional parliamentarian attempts to force the woman to have an abortion in order to save his political career.

The Herald understands that a complaint about the book's sex scenes has been lodged with the Censorship of Publications Board. Another allegation is the novel advocates the procurement of an abortion or miscarriage. In Ireland there are two main categories under which books can be banned. The first is they are indecent or obscene while the second is they advocate the procurement of abortion or miscarriage .

A spokesperson for the Board confirmed that concerns have been raised with its secretary by a member of the public and added: The complaint will be considered by the new Censorship of Publications Board when it is appointed. Ironically, it is Shatter who is due to announce the members of the board in the coming weeks.

A magazine photo shoot for an emerging fashion designer's collection has touched off anger throughout Pakistan for its depiction of a dark-skinned child serving as a slave to a fair-skinned model.

The clothing collection on display in the Be my Slave spread published in Diva magazine issue 106 is by Aamna Aqeel, who made her debut at Fashion Pakistan Week in Karachi in April 2013. Aqeel has maintained that she wanted the shoot to spark debate on child labor, and she is supporting and educating the young boy featured in the photos.

But with bonded slavery and racism very real problems facing Pakistan, some have accused Aqeel of engineering the photos with the intent to shock and gain publicity for her brand.

In a post on her Style Inn blog, entertainment journalist Usama Hamayun criticised the slave theme:

Her collection [at Fashion Pakistan Week] received very good reviews and I for one liked her collection as well. But this shoot disgusts me. Playing with such an insensitive theme in a country where racism and bonded labour are critical issues is not acceptable or aesthetically pleasing by any means. You can be fashion forward and push the envelope but above pics are simply tasteless and offensive.

Britain's libel laws have prevented the UK publication of Amanda Knox's account of the murder of Meredith Kercher, according to the book's publisher. Publication of the memoir, Waiting to be Heard , is due to go ahead as scheduled in the US, Canada and Australia on Tuesday.

HarperCollins UK had been due to publish the book early next month but has pulled out over fears of legal action. A spokesman said:

Due to our legal system, and relying upon advice from our counsel, HarperCollins UK will not publish a British edition of Waiting to Be Heard, by Amanda Knox, at this time.

The publisher is concerned that the UK's stringent libel laws mean that it could run into legal difficulties because a retrial of Knox and her ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, has been ordered by Italian authorities. In addition, the publisher is closely monitoring a number of libel cases in Italy where police and authorities are suing Knox and her parents for defamation for claims made in the press about how she was treated and and her interrogation about the murder.

UK readers will be able to buy the US book online.

A group of parents from the central Russian area of Ural wrote an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting a ban on the popular Japanese manga series Death Note . The parents are claiming that the manga series itself is harmful to children, and they claim as evidence a girl who committed suicide early this year, leaving four of the comic books at the scene of the incident.

According to local Russian media, a 15-year-old girl left Death Note comics and a suicide note before jumping from the window of their 13th floor apartment. Local police are now obliged to investigate if there is any connection at all between the suicide and the popular manga series.

In the open letter, the parents of the girl demanded of the Russian government that the books and related anime DVDs,  be banned. They argue that the Death Note manga series helps generate interest in death in children and in turn, has negative effects on their emotional development.

Erotica authors have hit out at Amazon claiming it is affecting their income and narrowing readers' choices by flagging and filtering adult titles so they don't show up in a basic search on Amazon.com.

The website is threatening authors' livelihood and punishing erotica fans by arbitrarily filtering content, writers have said.

Erotic fiction writer Selena Kitt, the best-selling author of titles like EcoErotica , Confessions , and Back to the Garden , said in a blog post:

Everytime one of these corporations decides to change the rules (again) without telling publishers (again) what or what isn't acceptable in their venue, they take food off my table. Yes corporations can sell what they like... but they should then have the cajones to tell publishers and authors what is or isn't okay with them.

She described how her book Girls Only: Pool Party - which features two scantily clad women embracing on the cover - was excluded by Amazon from its all department search. The adult flag imposed by Amazon meant readers would have to search within the books category or via its specific title in order to find it.

Stanislav Govorukhin, head of the Russian parliament's committee on culture has said that books containing swear words should be sold in plain covers displaying warnings, just like pornography:

We should consider selling such literature in cellophane covers like pornographic publications, with the warning -- Caution - uncensored language.

President Vladimir Putin recently signed on a law making the use of obscene language by media outlets punishable by fines.