AustLit
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Banned in Australia
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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The Little Book, Portnoy's Complaint, That Changed Censorship and the Pioneer Activist Who Says We Should Still Be Concerned
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , June 2020; -
Trials of Portnoy : When Penguin Fought for Literature and Liberty
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 26 June 2020;'One grey morning in October 1970, in a crowded, tizzy-pink courtroom on the corner of Melbourne’s Russell and La Trobe Streets, crown prosecutor Leonard Flanagan began denouncing a novel in terms that were strident and ringing.' (Introduction)
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y
The Trials of Portnoy : How Penguin Brought down Australia's Censorship System
Melbourne
:
Scribe
,
2020
18465224
2020
single work
criticism
'For more than seventy years, a succession of politicians, judges, and government officials in Australia worked in the shadows to enforce one of the most pervasive and conservative regimes of censorship in the world. The goal was simple: to keep Australia free of the moral contamination of impure literature. Under the censorship regime, books that might damage the morals of the Australian public were banned, seized, and burned; bookstores were raided; publishers were fined; and writers were charged and even jailed. But in the 1970s, that all changed.
'In 1970, in great secrecy and at considerable risk, Penguin Books Australia resolved to publish Portnoy’s Complaint — Philip Roth’s frank, funny, and profane bestseller about a man hung up about his mother and his penis. In doing so, Penguin spurred a direct confrontation with the censorship authorities, which culminated in criminal charges, police raids, and an unprecedented series of court trials across the country.
'Sweeping from the cabinet room to the courtroom, The Trials of Portnoy draws on archival records and new interviews to show how Penguin and a band of writers, booksellers, academics, and lawyers determinedly sought for Australians the freedom to read what they wished — and how, in defeating the forces arrayed before them, they reshaped Australian literature and culture forever.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
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The Athens of the South
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Adelaide : A Literary City 2014; (p. 147-161) -
Being Free by Acting Free
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 202 2011; (p. 16-21)
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In Literature's Grip
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 20 June 2010; (p. 20) Charles Waterstreet re-traces the Sydney trial relating to the Australian publication of Portnoy's Complaint. -
Being Free by Acting Free
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 202 2011; (p. 16-21) -
The Athens of the South
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Adelaide : A Literary City 2014; (p. 147-161) -
y
The Trials of Portnoy : How Penguin Brought down Australia's Censorship System
Melbourne
:
Scribe
,
2020
18465224
2020
single work
criticism
'For more than seventy years, a succession of politicians, judges, and government officials in Australia worked in the shadows to enforce one of the most pervasive and conservative regimes of censorship in the world. The goal was simple: to keep Australia free of the moral contamination of impure literature. Under the censorship regime, books that might damage the morals of the Australian public were banned, seized, and burned; bookstores were raided; publishers were fined; and writers were charged and even jailed. But in the 1970s, that all changed.
'In 1970, in great secrecy and at considerable risk, Penguin Books Australia resolved to publish Portnoy’s Complaint — Philip Roth’s frank, funny, and profane bestseller about a man hung up about his mother and his penis. In doing so, Penguin spurred a direct confrontation with the censorship authorities, which culminated in criminal charges, police raids, and an unprecedented series of court trials across the country.
'Sweeping from the cabinet room to the courtroom, The Trials of Portnoy draws on archival records and new interviews to show how Penguin and a band of writers, booksellers, academics, and lawyers determinedly sought for Australians the freedom to read what they wished — and how, in defeating the forces arrayed before them, they reshaped Australian literature and culture forever.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
-
Trials of Portnoy : When Penguin Fought for Literature and Liberty
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 26 June 2020;'One grey morning in October 1970, in a crowded, tizzy-pink courtroom on the corner of Melbourne’s Russell and La Trobe Streets, crown prosecutor Leonard Flanagan began denouncing a novel in terms that were strident and ringing.' (Introduction)