Salman Rushdie emphasizes the importance of authors being able to write characters that differ from themselves and their personal experiences, suggesting that restricting writers to only portraying characters from their own backgrounds would be detrimental to the art of the novel.
According to Rushdie, if a world existed where only women could write about women, only people from India could write about people from India, and only straight individuals could write about straight people, it would signify the death of the art. The novelist expressed these thoughts during an interview with the Times.
During a press conference at the Frankfurt book fair, Rushdie expressed his horror at the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. He also expressed concern about potential retaliatory actions from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he called for a prompt cessation of hostilities.
This public appearance marked a rare event for Rushdie, who survived a knife attack while on stage in New York in August 2022. The attack occurred 33 years after Iran issued a fatwa calling for the author’s death in response to his controversial book, The Satanic Verses.
Rushdie recently announced that he will be publishing a memoir titled Knife in April 2024, which will recount his experience of the attack. He explained that it felt impossible for him to write about anything else and that it had been a challenging year, expressing gratitude for still being alive.
In addition, Rushdie was awarded the German Book Trade’s prestigious peace prize, during which he advocated for the unconditional defense of freedom of expression. He stated that literature has limited power during the Israel-Hamas conflict but acknowledged that writers can contribute by raising awareness of the immense pain felt by many individuals.
The Frankfurt book fair faced criticism for canceling an awards ceremony honoring Palestinian author Adania Shibli amid the ongoing conflict.
