Event which sparked a writers’ boycott and caused bitter divisions in the literary world goes ahead, with playwright Tom Stoppard calling for conciliation
Charlie Hebdo magazine received a controversial freedom of expression award from American PEN on Tuesday night despite the vocal opposition of many of its own high-profile members.
The French satirical weekly – eight of whose staff and four others were killed in January when its offices in Paris were attacked by Islamist gunmen – was given the PEN American Center’s Toni and James C Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage award to a standing ovation from novelists, journalists and publishers at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
The PEN gala came two days after two gunmen opened fire at a Texas competition to draw cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, and took place under heavy security, with uniformed police officers surrounding the museum.
Accepting the award, Charlie Hebdo’s editor-in-chief Gerard Biard said that the magazine’s shocking and sometimes offensive content helped combat extremists who would limit free speech. “Fear is the most powerful weapon they have,” he said. “Being here tonight we contribute to disarming them.”
Secularism was not the enemy of religion; it simply said that the state had no religion, Biard continued. “Being shocked is part of the democratic debate. Being shot is not,” he said.
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And on the same subject from The Spectator:
Why are so many novelists so stupid?
If you feel a need to search for moral cowardice then, in my experience, literary festivals are likely to be as happy a hunting ground as any.
Should you be lucky enough to find Peter Carey, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner or Taiye Selasi listed in the programme then, by jove, your ship will have come in. Moral dwarves, each of them.
You see they are, all of them, unhappy that PEN America decided that, this year of all years, it would honour the editors and staff of Charlie Hebdo with PEN’s annual Freedom of Expression Courage award at the organisation’s annual gala. So unhappy, in fact, that they have decided to ‘boycott’ the evening.
More
The French satirical weekly – eight of whose staff and four others were killed in January when its offices in Paris were attacked by Islamist gunmen – was given the PEN American Center’s Toni and James C Goodale Freedom of Expression Courage award to a standing ovation from novelists, journalists and publishers at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
The PEN gala came two days after two gunmen opened fire at a Texas competition to draw cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, and took place under heavy security, with uniformed police officers surrounding the museum.
Accepting the award, Charlie Hebdo’s editor-in-chief Gerard Biard said that the magazine’s shocking and sometimes offensive content helped combat extremists who would limit free speech. “Fear is the most powerful weapon they have,” he said. “Being here tonight we contribute to disarming them.”
Secularism was not the enemy of religion; it simply said that the state had no religion, Biard continued. “Being shocked is part of the democratic debate. Being shot is not,” he said.
More
And on the same subject from The Spectator:
Why are so many novelists so stupid?
Should you be lucky enough to find Peter Carey, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner or Taiye Selasi listed in the programme then, by jove, your ship will have come in. Moral dwarves, each of them.
You see they are, all of them, unhappy that PEN America decided that, this year of all years, it would honour the editors and staff of Charlie Hebdo with PEN’s annual Freedom of Expression Courage award at the organisation’s annual gala. So unhappy, in fact, that they have decided to ‘boycott’ the evening.
More
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