Before this thread gets right off the subject of british censorship...
Let's not forget the Lord Horror case. Some publishers of graphic novels
in Manchester (sorry, I've forgotten their names) were persecuted by the
police for the trangressive nature of their product. The big court case
was about a book named after its cantral character - "Lord Horror" -
whose racial rantings were presented in pretty disgusting detail. The
police prosecuted succesfully. Later issues, attacking Alderton, then
chief constable of Manchester, were also prosecuted.
Or the case last year of the guy who went to prison for publishing a
technical treatise on how to grow cannabis (advertised in Private Eye).
Currently he's fighting to get his manuscript back from the courts.
What I want to know is - why aren't these cases front page news in
Britain? Why aren't the arts establishment kicking up a Voltairean
fuss, the way they would in America? Could it be because they don't
want to jeopardise their Arts Council grants?
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George Simmers
SNAKESKIN webzine is at
http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~simmers
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