Sir Salman Rushdie came to the book fair in Germany to receive the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. More than a year ago, an Islamic assassin seriously injured the writer during a performance in Chautauqua, America, and Rushdie has been blind in one eye ever since. In Frankfurt am Main, at the British Honorary Consulate reception and the ceremony at St. Paul’s Church, Rushdie moves so freely and speaks so funny that people admire him even more. Since 1989 he has lived with the Islamic fatwa that was issued against him after the publication of his novel “The Satanic Verses”. Rushdie continued to write; “Victory City,” his most recent historical novel, published in German by Penguin, was seen as a declaration of the power of literature. Rushdie personifies freedom of art and opinion, the main themes of this book fair. There will be time for conversation on the sidelines of the fair. Security guards are present but reserved, Rushdie is friendly and attentive.
Tobias Ruther
Editor of the reports section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in Berlin.
Why was it so important for you to come to Frankfurt?