On Thursday 10 September, students, staff and members of the public gathered in the Link to silently protest the interim restriction order placed on Ted Dawe’s young adult novel, Into the River.
The novel, which won the Best Young Adult Fiction and the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year awards in 2013 was banned after an outcry from Christian lobby group, Family First. The book’s sex scenes, language and use of drugs have caused controversy.
According to a press release by the Film and Literature Board, the restriction order means “no one in New Zealand can distribute, or exhibit, the book”. If the order is breached, “individuals face a fine of $3,000 and companies of $10,000”.
The restriction is in place until the board meets in October.
The protest was organised by Emma Neale, who teaches poetry at the University of Otago. Neale helped edit the novel.
Neale said the protesters were there “to support Ted and highlight the absurdity of the ban”. She said the novel was “unfairly highlighted and singled out … the awards it won were mistaken as targeting young children, when it is truly a crossover novel directed toward young adults and teenagers”.
Barbara Larson, a former publisher who attended the protest, said she was “dismayed” at the situation: “I don’t like things taken out of context and used as an example”.
The writer Lynley Hood, who was also at the protest, said it is “appalling that this has happened”.
“Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of a democracy. It is pointless if we only write and say things that people agree with. How do you know whose ideas are the best if they’re not all out there?”
A similar protest was held in central Wellington the same day.
Protest organiser Susan Pearce argued in a Wireless video: “Some New Zealanders have taken the narrative that describes sex and body parts as something that would damage their teenagers or their children should they read it, and that’s why they’ve lobbied for its restriction and banning.”
Green Party MP Gareth Hughes also attended the Wellington protest, saying “I’m here because I believe in the freedom of expression [and] the freedom to read literature. I’m opposed to this 1930s Soviet style banning of books, I think it’s religious, outrageous, and no way should it be happening in 2015.”
The New Zealand Book Council has also been outspoken about the book’s banning, using the hashtag #screwcensorship to promote the protest.