Well-known writer to resign in protest from Public Morality Commission

The internationally known writer Andriy Kurkov is leaving the National Expert Commission for the Protection of Public Morality. His formal resignation will be submitted at the beginning of March, since he is presently leaving the country and will return then. Andriy Kurkov was appointed, on his consent, to the Commission by a Cabinet of Ministers Instruction of 11 June 2008.

As well as citing his considerable workload of civic duties, Kurkov gives as his reason the controversial assessment given of the novel by Oles Ulyanenko “The Woman of his dreams”. As he explained to the journal “Telekritka”: “I found the situation over Ulynenko very unpleasant, although I do understand that it’s not entirely the Commission’s fault, but the idiocy of the [publishing house]  “Club of Family Leisure””. As reported already, the publishers withdrew the book from sale and severed their contract with the author after the National Expert Commission for the Protection of Public Morality deemed the new book by Oles Ulyanenko, laureate of the prestigious Taras Shevchenko Award, “The Woman of his dreams” “pornographic”. It was, in fact, the publishers who asked for an assessment, though it should be mentioned that they did so well before the book was printed. It is not clear why the Commission sat on it and only issued its “verdict” when copies had already been sold, and an official presentation was due the following day.  The Commission warned that the book, in its view, was pornographic, however it has no legal powers to do more than inform the relevant authorities.

Information about Kurkov from www.telekritika.ua