Author – Charles Kevin

Charles Kevin is a Queensland author who ran into censorship issues with two of his books.

BET AND ZAK (2006) and SIBLING LOVE (2007) were both banned after being sent to libraries across the country.

Bet and Zak

Author Charles Kevin / Publisher Anthos Publishing Company / 2006 / Australia

BET AND ZAK is a novel written by Charles Kevin, an 82-year-old author from Caboolture in Queensland. The book describes sex between a mother and her son.

To promote BET AND ZAK and its follow up, SIBLING LOVE (2007), Charles Kevin sent 530 copies to libraries around Australia.

In October 2008, a women’s group called WISH (Women, Inspiring, Sharing, Humour) complained to Queensland’s Logan Hyperdome library regarding them stocking the two books. Their concerns were ignored until the publication of the following story.

January 20, 2009
Brisbane and Logan libraries yanked copies of SIBLING LOVE and BET AND ZAK after being alerted by The Courier-Mail. They admitted staff hadn’t evaluated them thoroughly.

Interviewed at his home yesterday, Mr Kevin, 82, was pleased with his work.

“Basically there’s a lot of perverted sex in them. People love them,” he said. “They are checked out all the time.

“Nobody knocked them back. I got quite a lot of correspondence thanking me for sending the books.”

But Mrs Gibson said the public needed to be protected from self-published authors with destructive motives.

“His biggest aim is he wants fame at any costs. The only message in it is that incest is OK,” she said.

A Brisbane City Council spokesman said SIBLING LOVE had been binned, but BET AND ZAK was only removed yesterday.

Defending his books, Mr Kevin claimed mother and son sex was a common female fantasy and he saw nothing wrong with siblings having sex.

“It is probably safer for a brother and sister to have sex these days than to go around having sex with other people.”

The federal Classification Board said it wasn’t asked to evaluate the books but was now seeking more information.

A Logan spokeswoman said library policies were being revised to flag self-published books without classifications.

– Queensland libraries forced to ditch unclassified books
– couriermail.com.au

January 20, 2009
NICOLE BUTLER: Charles Kevin used to be a speech writer for Queensland’s ultra-conservative former premier Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen.

The Hungarian born 82-year-old has since turned to writing novels; explicit, pornographic ones.

CHARLES KEVIN: Well I would describe them as brief to the point and concentrating on action and full of sex. It’s got sex in it that you could call perverted or decadent.

NICOLE BUTLER: Mr Kevin’s novels centre on incestuous relations between mother and son, brother and sister.

He believes mother-son sex is a common fantasy among women and he sees nothing wrong with siblings making love.

Mr Kevin says he’s proud of his work.

CHARLES KEVIN: I have enjoyed doing it and they have been successful, they are in 500 odd libraries throughout Australia.

NICOLE BUTLER: The Queensland author has published his books himself and he’s donated two of them to libraries

Now some libraries in his home state are scrambling to remove BET AND ZAC [sic] and SIBLING LOVE.

Mr Kevin says someone’s suddenly made a fuss about the subject matter four years after the first book hit the shelves.

CHARLES KEVIN: Everybody read it and in the central library for example in Caboolture where my wife goes to borrow books for herself to read, she checks on my books and they’re out all the time after four years they keep reading it. Partly because it’s large print and all people have got nothing better to do.

NICOLE BUTLER: The former journalist says in a democratic Australia he should be free to write what he wants to and other adults should be free to read what they choose.

Mr Kevin says some explicit works should be available in libraries because not everyone can afford to buy them.

CHARLES KEVIN: All of those books of mine while they are you can say decadent and pornographic and perverted maybe, none of them are anti-female, they’re mainly anti-male therefore women like to read it.

NICOLE BUTLER: The controversial author says librarians should monitor who’s borrowing adult books.

But Jan Richards from the Australian Library and Information Association say public librarians don’t believe in practicing censorship.

JAN RICHARDS: We believe that people should be able to read what they want to read with a degree of privacy. However the issue of children accessing inappropriate material is a very real one and we all have systems in place whereby we would stop a child from taking something that was inappropriate, but at the same time we think that there is a very important role for parents to play.

NICOLE BUTLER: The vice president of ALIA says it’s unlikely that all of the libraries holding Mr Kevin’s novels will pull them from the shelves.

JAN RICHARDS: Now it depends on how they feel it fits in with their own community.

ASHLEY HALL: The vice president of the Australian Library and Information Association, Jan Richards ending Nicole Butler’s report.

– Pornographic books pulled from library shelves
– Interview with Charles Kevin
– PM @ abc.net.au

Called-in for rating

A submittable publication is one that would likely be rated Category 1, 2, or RC. If the Director of the Classification Board believes a title may match this definition, then he may request the publisher submit it for classification.

Following the controversy, the Department of Justice and the Attorney General requested that both be called-in for rating.

February 4, 2009
Mr Charles Kevin
Anthos Publishing Company
xx xxxxxx Street
CABOOLTURE QLD 4510

Dear Mr Kevin

Notice to submit publication for classification within three days.

I am writing to advise you that I have reviewed the following publication and that you are now required to submit an application for classification of this publication within three business days.

Title: BET AND ZAC [sic]
Year published: 2006
Author Charles Kevin
Australian publisher/distributor: Anthos Publishing Company
Number of pages: 131 (Front and Back covers included in page count)
Country of origin: Australia
ISBN: 0909803 07 2
Modifications/comments: No modifications

Under sub-section 9A(1) of the Classification of Publications Act 1991 (Qld), if:

(a) the director or the publications classification officer reasonably believes a publication is a submittable publication; and

(b) it is being published in the State, or the director or the publications classification officer reasonably believes it will be published in the Slate;

the director or the publications classification officer may, by written notice given to its publisher, require the publisher to submit an application for classification of the publication, or its subsequent issues, by the board

‘Submittable publication’ is defined in section 5 of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 (Cth) (the Classification Act) to mean:

an unclassified publication that, having regard to section 9A or to the Code and the classification guidelines to the extent that they relate to publications, contains depictions or descriptions that:

(a) are likely to cause the publication to be classified RC; or

(b) are likely to cause offence to a reasonable adult to the extent that the publication should not be sold or displayed as an unrestricted publication; or

(c) are unsuitable for a minor to see or read, ‘Publish’ is defined in section 5 of the Classification Act to include ‘sell, offer for sale, let on hire, exhibit, display, distribute and demonstrate’.

It is an offence in Queensland to advertise, sell or distribute a prohibited publication: s 12 of the Classification of Publications Act 199! (Qld).

I have reasonable grounds to believe the above named publication is a submittable publication and I believe it has been published in Queensland.

I have therefore decided to issue this notice requiring the publisher lo submit an application for classification of the publication.

Information about how to apply, including the application form and fees, is available at www.classification.gov.au. You may also wish to contact David Emery, the Applications Manager, on (02) 9289 7100.

It is an offence not to comply within three business days after receiving this notice.

A notice of my decision will be published in the Commonwealth Gazette.

– To: Charles Kevin
– From: Donald McDonald, Director, Classification Board

The letter sent for SIBLING LOVE (2007) was the same, apart from the following description.

February 4, 2009
Title: SIBLING LOVE
Year published: 2006
Author Charles Kevin
Australian publisher/distributor: Anthos Publishing Company
Number of pages: 163 (Front and Back covers included in page count)
Country of origin: Australia
ISBN: 0909803 102
Modifications/comments: No modifications

– To: Charles Kevin
– From: Donald McDonald, Director, Classification Board

Why were they refused?

In March 2009, both BET AND ZAK, and SIBLING LOVE (2007) were banned in Australia following an application by the Department of Justice and Attorney General.

The reason for the RC-rating for both titles was:

March 2009
Pubs 1(a)&(b) The publication is classified RC in accordance with the National Classification Code, Publications Table, 1.

(a) as publications that “describe, depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified,” and

(b) “describe or depict in a way that is likely to cause offence to a reasonable adult, a person who is, or appears to be, a child under 18 (whether the person is engaged in sexual activity or not).”

– Classification Board

September 21, 2009
It also became apparent from the purchasing of these adult publications that many of the publications had not been classified. The Director has the power to call in publications for classification where reasonable grounds exist to believe that an unclassified publication is a submittable publication, being published in an Australian jurisdiction. I called in the publications that were unclassified. If a distributor did not comply with a call in notice, the Department was asked to advise law enforcement agencies.

During the reporting period, I also called in other publications which came to my attention. These publications were ….. two books featuring offensive incest fantasies.

Publications classified RC cannot be sold or displayed in Australia. During the reporting period, of the total of 180 publications classified, five publications were classified RC .

Three publications called in for classification during the reporting period were classified RC . These publications were the novels SIBLING LOVE and BET AND ZAK. The novels were classified RC because they contained numerous descriptions of incest and offensive descriptions of persons under 18 years.

The Director of the Classification Board also called in the novels BET AND ZAK and SIBLING LOVE by Charles Kevin following a complaint by a member of the public that these novels contained highly offensive material.

– Classification Board, Annual Report 2008-2009

Who was behind the complaint?

In September 2010, Anniko Kevin, the daughter of Charles Kevin, published MALICIOUS MINDS. In it, she writes about how it was her who campaigned to have the books banned.

2010
The author battles against community apathy as she struggles to remove books promoting depravity from over five hundred public libraries in Australia. The paperbacks are the self-published creations of her father. Eventually, the media is approached, resulting in the literature being banned.

Then, in a bizarre twist, the author is accused of sexually inappropriate behaviour after she befriends a psychologist with malicious intentions.

– Malicious Minds by Anniko Kevin
– rosedogbookstore.com/malicious-minds

Sibling Love

Author Charles Kevin / Published by Anthos Publishing Company / 2007 / Australia

SIBLING LOVE consists of a series of vignettes concerning sex between a brother and sister.

It was banned by the Classification Board in March 2009 following an application by the Department of Justice and Attorney General.

The reason for the RC-rating was:

March 2009
Pubs 1(a)&(b) The publication is classified RC in accordance with the National Classification Code, Publications Table, 1.

(a) as publications that “describe, depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified,” and

(b) “describe or depict in a way that is likely to cause offence to a reasonable adult, a person who is, or appears to be, a child under 18 (whether the person is engaged in sexual activity or not).”

– Classification Board

Further reading

For the background to this case, see the above entry for BET AND ZAK (2006).