Salman Rushdie has received the Peace Prize of the German book industry in Frankfurt. This involves a monetary award of 25,000 euros. The 76-year-old writer said in his acceptance speech that “peace feels like a fantasy right now.”
“We are living in a time that I didn’t think I would ever experience again,” the Indian-born American-British author continued. “A time when freedom – and in particular freedom of expression, without which the book world would not exist – is under attack everywhere by reactionary, authoritarian, populist, demagogic, narcissistic, brash voices.”
In an apparent reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Rushdie spoke of a war “raging not far away, born of tyranny and the thirst for power.” Rushdie called that “a sad story that will not be unknown to the German public”.
The 76-year-old Rushdie also referred to the war in Israel and the Gaza Strip. He said that art and artists are a means to protect civilization and “keep the barbarians outside the gates.”
In 1989, then-Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini called for Rushdie to be assassinated because of his novel The Satanic Verseswhich was considered blasphemous and insulting to Islam.
Rushdie has been blind in one eye since he was stabbed in the United States last year. Despite the attack and threats, Rushdie said he continues to write books “without any hesitation.”
2023-10-22 15:37:15
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