New Zealand sets interim ban on YA novel Into the River
A rare interim book ban has been carried out in New Zealand over Ted Dawe’s Into the River over complaints that the book is too explicit in its descriptions of sex and drug use. The ban was issued by the Film and Literature Board of Review’s president Don Mathieson, and will remain in effect until all members of the board are available to review the text. Schools and libraries are not exempted from the ban, which fines individuals $3,000 and organizations $10,000 for knowingly selling or providing the book in any manner.
TV adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Dawn starts production
The 1987 sci-fi classic is long overdue for adaptation, and producer Allan Bain will be bringing it to life under his new production banner Bainframe. Dawn is the first book in Butler’s Lillith’s Brood series, about a human woman waking to a new life with an alien race after Earth’s nuclear war. Bain recognizes the impact and influence Butler’s work has had, and the opportunity for diversity in the cast:
“The lead of this book is an African-American female and the lead of the TV show should be the same. And I think it’s important to bring together a team behind the scenes that represents the multicultural aspects of the book, because that’s what the book is about.”
White feminism becomes focus of Roxane Gay/Erica Jong conversation at Decatur Book Festival
Roxane Gay (Bad Feminist) and Erica Jong’s (Fear of Flying) panel took on a more confrontational tone than planned, after an audience question threw a spotlight on the differences between second and third-wave feminism. Jong was asked for her opinion on the hashtag #feminismisforwhitewomen, and her defense of the purported role of white women in advancing the cause for women of colour was not surprising, but still unsettling and upsetting. Gay highlighted the need for intersectionality in her answer, a familiar term for modern feminist thinkers, but not one that was tossed around in Jong’s day.
ICYMI
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