Facing down Iran’s insulted boycott, the author addressed Frankfurt Book Fair to passionately defend freedom of expression
Salman Rushdie has said that “the guardians of freedom of speech are to be found in publishing” and that “it falls to us to hold the line” as he opens this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair.
The choice of Rushdie as guest speaker at the world’s largest publishing event had angered the Iranian ministry of culture, which cancelled its participation in the book fair saying that “fair officials chose the theme of freedom of expression, but they invited someone who has insulted our beliefs”. Iran placed a fatwa on Rushdie after publication of his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, forcing the Booker-winning novelist into hiding for years.
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The choice of Rushdie as guest speaker at the world’s largest publishing event had angered the Iranian ministry of culture, which cancelled its participation in the book fair saying that “fair officials chose the theme of freedom of expression, but they invited someone who has insulted our beliefs”. Iran placed a fatwa on Rushdie after publication of his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, forcing the Booker-winning novelist into hiding for years.
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