Last Hong Kong bookshop selling titles banned in China closes
The last bookshop in Hong Kong selling titles banned by the Communist Party of China has closed, reports the Guardian. People Book Café, situated in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay district,...
Target US metadata glitch causes book descriptions to be redacted
In the US, department store retailer Target has been accused of redacting some words from the descriptions of books on its website, reports Publishers Weekly. According to a number of authors...
‘Literature and Censorship’ conference takes place in Canberra
The fifth annual conference of the Australian Association for Literature, ‘Literature and Censorship’, takes place in Canberra from today until Friday (11 to 13 July). The conference is hosted by...
In brief
BNZ Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award winners announcedThe winners of the BNZ Katherine Mansfield Awards for 2008 have been announced. The Awards celebrate New Zealand short stories. The Premier Award...
Frankfurt gets underway
The Frankfurt Book Fair opens today and runs through this week until Sunday. The fair, celebrating its 60th birthday this year, is expecting one of its biggest years ever, with just...
Tibet objections force atlas to print in Hong Kong
Earth, the new out-sized atlas from Millennium House, has been printed in Hong Kong to avoid a possible embargo by China, Millennium House managing director Gordon Cheers told WBN. Cheers...
Chinese printer refuses Tibet book
A Chinese printer has refused to print Putting Queensland on the Map by Felicity Jack for UNSW Press because it mentions the China-Tibet border. The book contains just a single line which...
In brief
Call to ban Nitschke bookThe sisters of an Australian woman who committed suicide using the drug Nembutal, have called on Attorney-General Robert McClelland to ban Philip Nitschke's book Killing Me...
In brief
Tim Winton on SlowTV--45-minute interview onlineThe often media-shy Tim Winton has participated in a 45-minute interview with Martin Flanagan for the new website ‘SlowTV', broadcast by Schwarz Media, parent company...
In brief
Author behind Gun Alley murder pardonResearch by author Kevin Morgan and used for his book Gun Alley: Murder, Lies and Failure of Justice (S&S) has led to the pardoning of...
Nitschke detained in NZ over banned book
Australian doctor, author and euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke was detained by New Zealand customs officers at Auckland airport last week.Nitschke was in NZ to conduct his euthanasia workshops. He...
It’s just not cricket–APA decries Cricket Australia censorship
A move by Cricket Australia (CA) to ban editorial material created at its events from being used in books, unless approved by CA, has drawn intense criticism from the Australian...
Visa delay threatens author appearance at BWF
British citizen Abdul Bari Atwan, author of The Secret History of Al Qu'Ida (Little, Brown), may be unable to attend the Brisbane Writers Festival as scheduled, due to a delay...
In brief
Miles Franklin winner to tour Queensland and NTAlexis Wright, the winner of this year's Miles Franklin Award for Carpentaria (Giramondo), will tour rural Queensland and the Northern Territory in August....
Tintin in hot water over Congo book
A 75-year-old Tintin book has landed its publisher Egmont in hot water in the UK and US amid claims of racism. Tintin in the Congo, originally published in French in 1931, only become available...
In brief
Spielberg buys film rights to ‘The Unknown Terrorist'Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks Studio has reportedly paid ‘a massive sum' to secure the film rights to Richard Flanagan's novel The Unknown Terrorist (Picador).The...
Hicks won’t profit from book: Attorney-General
Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock (pictured) yesterday flagged that the federal government would introduce retrospective legislation to prevent Australian Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks from profiting from any book deal made...
More books to be banned under new censorship laws?
State and territory attorneys-general have agreed to a request by federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock to investigate how they can more closely restrict material that advocates terrorism. Ahead of a meeting...
ABA, ASA critical of ‘classification’ bill
Following the proposal by Minister for the Arts Senator Coonan to introduce legislation to apply classifications to all electronically published material, peak publishing industry bodies have joined the Australian Publishers...
Book ‘classification’: draft legislation obtained
The online newsletter Crikey yesterday published a copy of a draft version of the government's proposed legislation aimed at making classification of content ‘technology neutral'.Margaret Simons, writing in Crikey, said...