Literature Prize: Author Salman Rushdie receives the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade

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The British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie will receive this year’s Peace Prize from the German Book Trade. The German Book Trade Association honored the 76-year-old Monday in Frankfurt am Main “for his toughness, his affirmation of life and for enriching the world with his love of storytelling”.

«Passionate advocate of freedom of thought and language».

Despite a life in perpetual danger, Rushdie is “one of the most passionate advocates of freedom of thought and speech” — including those whose views he does not share, the stock exchange association’s statement said. In his novels and non-fiction books, he combines narrative foresight with literary innovation, humor and wisdom. “He describes the power with which violent regimes destroy entire societies, but also the indestructible spirit of resistance of individuals.”

Outrage over “Devilish Verses”

Rushdie has been the target of threats and attempted assassinations since he published The Satanic Verses in 1988. The Iranian government described the book as blasphemous. Iran’s then spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for the writer’s death. Rushdie lived for years under strict police protection in ever-changing secret locations.

Shortly before the publication of his latest novel “Victory City”, he was the victim of a knife attack in the US last August, which he narrowly survived. During a conference in upstate New York, he was attacked and seriously injured by an American citizen with Lebanese roots. Since then, the British-Indian author with American citizenship has been blind in one eye.

Rushdie expressed his gratitude and joy at receiving the Peace Prize from the German Book Trade. “I know how important this award is and I am a bit intimidated by the list of previous awards my name will now participate in,” he said.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised Rushdie as an indomitable and wonderful author. Al Rushdie’s work “rebels against the ideologies and appalling simplifications, defends the wondrous complexity of the world and the tremendous power of storytelling” to which Rushdie feels committed in his novels and essays.

Rushdie’s guiding principle, that the freedom to write and speak must never be given up, is “an attitude as courageous as it is admirable, supported by inner rigidity, for which I have great respect,” explained Steinmeier.

Peace Prize to Rushdie

The Peace Prize will be awarded on 22 October in the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. The prize has been awarded since 1950 and has a cash prize of 25,000 euros. Last year the Ukrainian writer and musician Serhiy Shadan won an award. Other past winners include Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, writer Susan Sontag and philosopher Jürgen Habermas.

Born on June 19, 1947 in Bombay, now Mumbai, India, Rushdie is one of the foremost writers of contemporary English literature. His novels, which have been translated into more than 40 languages, often combine magical realism with historical fiction.

They deal with connections, migration and fractures between eastern and western civilizations and are often set in the Indian subcontinent. In addition to novels, Rushdie also writes short stories, travelogues, essays and journalistic articles.

Rushdie has received numerous international awards for his literary work and his social involvement. In 2007, the writer was knighted by the late British Queen Elizabeth II.

(AFP)

Source: Blick