They shoot writers, don’t they?

Press, 28 August 1984, Page 11

They shoot writers, don’t they?

For a writer to have a work censored or banned has been described as a kind of living death. The magazine, “Index on Censorship,” based in London, helps writers to survive under repressive regimes, by publishing their work in English. Now an anthology drawn from the 12 years of the magazine’s existence has come out, entitled "They Shoot Writers, On “8.8. C. World of Books” (Concert programme, 7 o’clock tonight), the editor of “Index on Censorship,” George Theiner, will be asked about the predicaments in which some of his contributors found themselves. Coinciding with the publication of “They Shoot Writers, Don’t They?” a writers’ conference was held in London under the same title. Manuel Puig had fled from Argentina during the military regime; Josef Skvorecky left Czechoslovakia after the Soviet-led invasion of 1968; the black writer, Sipho Sepamla, and the white novelist, Breyten Breytenbach, have both been censored and banned in their native South Africa. They all described their experiences and compared censorship under very different governments. Janet Frame celebrates her sixtieth birthday today. A selection of her short stories will be broadcast on the Concert Programme over the next three weeks and at 9.25 tonight, Margaret Dalziel, a former professor of English at the University of Otago, will introducee the stories of Janet Frame and, explain why she finds them enjoyable.