National Literature Board of Review, 1963-1971

Component identifier:

Series 26

Content Summary:

Comprises Items 1-911.

In January 1968 the Commonwealth Literature Censorship Board was replaced by the National Literature Board of Review. This joint Commonwealth-State board was set up to review imported and locally produced literature and to advise Australian governments on literary censorship. Slessor, who had been a member of the Commonwealth Literature Censorship Board since 1965, became a member of the National Literature Board of Review at its inception in 1968 and held the position until his death in 1971.

This series contains agendas and minutes of nearly all meetings of the Board from October 1968 to March 1971, reports and correspondence (1968-1971). Other papers include: information bulletins (1970, 1971) listing prohibited books and film classifications; statements on censorship by Ministers for Customs and Excise, Senator Kenneth Anderson and D.L. Chipp; judgments handed down in court cases dealing with prohibited books and magazines; regulations relating to censorship; and published reports and newspaper cuttings dealing with censorship, pornography and books prohibited in Australia.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The papers of the poet and journalist Kenneth Slessor were offered to the National Library by his brother Robin Slessor, executor of the will, after his death in 1971. The National Library purchased the papers in 1972. Eight additional consignments of papers received by the Library between 1979 and 2000 were variously purchased from Robin Slessor, Paul Slessor and Peter Elder.

Names:

Slessor, Kenneth, 1901-1971

Contents

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