Sometimes publishing is a rough business. That observation gains greater credence when one considers news outside North America and Western Europe. The most recent example comes from Turkey, as reported in the LA Times. The government is taking a publisher to court for printing a Turkish language version of William S. Burroughs' The Soft Machine. According to the Times piece, which cited an account from a major Turkish newspaper, the government alleges that Burroughs' novel promotes "'attitudes that were permissive to crime by concentrating on the banal, vulgar, and weak attributes of humanity...'"The International Publishers Association made a statement on behalf of the Turkish defendant. The organization also noted other writers, in other countries, who have been legally or illegally bullied, coerced, beaten, or murdered in an effort to silence them or distort their message. The IPA, and similar groups, continue to stand up for writers and publishers. They need our support.
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