World-renowned writer Salman Rushdie spoke in public for the first time since last year’s attack. In a video message he recorded in New York for the announcement of the British Book Awards on Monday, he spoke about freedom of speech. According to him, it is threatened not only in the East, but also in Western countries, writes the AP agency.
Rushdie was seriously injured nine months ago when a man stabbed him on stage in the US. As a result of the attack, the writer is blind in one eye and has damaged nerves in his hand. The attacker was charged with attempted murder.
This Monday, the novelist accepted the Freedom to Publish Award, given to those who stand up for freedom of speech.
“We live in a time when freedom of speech and publication in Western countries has never been so threatened in my lifetime,” Rushdie said. He mentioned that while Russia, China or in some respects India have long experience with censorship, the West was liberal until recently. According to the writer, this may not last forever.
He specifically mentioned controversies over the removal of titles from American school libraries or new editions of books in which passages are retroactively edited and rewritten that might offend certain groups of readers. Recently, the works of Roald Dahl, Agatha Christie or Ian Fleming have received such adaptations. “The idea that James Bond, for example, could ever be politically correct seems almost comical to me. And I think we have to resist it,” Rushdie suggests.
According to him, publishers should allow “the books to reflect the time in which they were created”, he said on Monday. “And if this is difficult for someone to accept, then let him not read that particular book and read another,” concluded the writer.
The British Book Awards, also known as the Nibbies, are awarded by the specialist magazine The Bookseller in several categories. Davina McCall’s science publication Menopausing won the top award for book of the year this Monday. In the fiction category, the fantasy novel Babel written by Rebecca Kuang won.
Video: He ended up playing a black man. It’s absurd, correctness is the enemy of art, says Sokol
We have gone in the direction of restricting artistic freedom, actor and director Ondřej Sokol said on DVtv last year. | Video: Michael Rozsypal
