Writer Salman Rushdie has warned that freedom of speech in the West is the biggest threat he has ever seen in his life, in what was his first public speech since he was attacked.
The British writer sent a video message to the British Book Awards, which awarded him Monday night’s Freedom to Publish award, which “recognizes the determination of authors, publishers and booksellers who stand against intolerance despite the threats they face”. , reports the AP.
“We live in a time when freedom of expression and freedom of publication have never been more threatened in my entire life in Western countries,” he said.
“Sitting here in the United States, I have to look at the extraordinary attack on libraries and books for children in schools. The attack on the very idea of libraries themselves. It is extremely alarming and we must be very vigilant and fight hard against it in return for.” he added.
During his speech, Salman Rushdie also criticized publishers who alter decades-old books to adapt them to modern sensibilities, such as the massive cuts and reprints of works by children’s author Roald Dahl and James Bond creator Ian Fleming.
Publishers should allow books to “come to us out of their time and come out of their time. And if that’s hard to accept, don’t read it, read another book,” the author opined.
Salman Rushdie, 75, appeared visibly thinner in the video than before the attack he was targeted and which left him blind in his right eye when he started a lecture in New York in August 2022 when a 24-year-old man attacked him.
The alleged assailant, Hadi Matar, has pleaded not guilty to assault and attempted murder charges.
Source: DN
