- Wednesday, May 01, 2024
Salman Rushdie has cautioned young individuals about the importance of preserving free speech and has weighed in on the potential repercussions of a second Donald Trump presidency. Rushdie, who has lived under the shadow of a death threat due to his controversial writings, made a rare public appearance on Sunday…
BRITISH-AMERICAN author Salman Rushdie releases his memoir Knife on Tuesday, recounting the harrowing experience of being stabbed at a public event in 2022 and how he overcame the near-fatal ordeal. Rushdie lost sight in one eye after the attack by a knife-wielding assailant, who jumped on stage at an arts…
Since 1989, Salman Rushdie has lived under the shadow of a death threat due to his controversial writings. When he faced a near-fatal stabbing, his immediate reaction was, "So it's you." Rushdie shared his reflections on this life-altering incident in his new book, "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder," which…
The Award-winning British Indian musician Nitin Sawhney, who had to withdraw from Australia’s premier world music festival WOMADelaide due to a medical emergency, has revealed that he ‘had a heart attack’ a few days ago. Known for musical scores in over 70 films, including for a screen adaptation of Salman…
THE BBC has announced a “truly diverse” cast for Virdee, a six-part television series adapted from AA Dhand’s crime novel, City of Sinners. Having a mainly Asian cast playing both heroes and villains is regarded as being a groundbreaking first for British TV. The tale has a characteristically grim opening:…
THE NHS has suspended a GP in Harrow and a prominent figure in the recently banned Islamist terror group Hizb ut-Tahrir. The action was taken against Dr Wahid Asif Shaida after the Home Office proscribed Hizb ut-Tahrir, leading to potential prison sentences for its supporters. Dr. Shaida, also known as…
THE trial of the man charged with stabbing Salman Rushdie is delayed due to the release of the author's memoir about the attack, reported The Guardian. Hadi Matar's lawyer, who represents the accused attacker, successfully requested Judge David Foley to postpone the trial just before its scheduled start on Monday…
TALENTED authors from varied backgrounds contributed to a rich tapestry of reading material throughout the past year. This trend will continue in 2024, with everything from a treatise on tea to a much-awaited sequel, as well as a fantasy and a memoir recounting a renowned author’s experience of a deadly…
Award-winning British Indian musician Nitin Sawhney, recognised for his notable musical compositions, including the score for the screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie's 'Midnight's Children' has been named as a member of the 2024 Booker Prize judging panel. The announcement was made on Thursday (14). Sawhney, in his late 50s, will…
A STRONG literary year was filled with stunning stories written by skilled south Asian authors from around the world. They explored diverse themes, ideas, emotions, time periods, characters, and journeys in a marvellous melting pot of books that opened windows into new worlds. Eastern Eye decided to celebrate some of…
IRISH writer Paul Lynch won the 2023 Booker Prize on Sunday (26) for his novel 'Prophet Song', the story of a family and a country on the brink of catastrophe as an imaginary Irish government veers towards tyranny. The novel, Lynch's fifth, seeks to show the unrest in Western democracies…
Padma Lakshmi, who was previously married to acclaimed author Salman Rushdie from 2004-2007, has a new man in his life. If reports are to be believed, Lakshmi and Hollywood writer Kenya Barris, best known for being the creator of the ABC series Black-ish., are in the early stages of dating.…
SALMAN RUSHDIE said that there are many things words can't do, including "stopping wars." "One of the first casualties of war is usually truth because people start presenting their own propaganda version of events. And that's very difficult when you can't distinguish fact from fiction in a war zone," Rushdie…
Author Salman Rushdie last Friday (20) called for a "cessation" in fighting between Israel and Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas, saying he was filled with "horror" and "foreboding". Making a rare public appearance since a near-fatal stabbing attack in the United States last year, Rushdie said he was horrified at…
SALMAN RUSHDIE, the Indian-born novelist who spent years in hiding after Iran urged Muslims to kill him because of his writing, will publish a memoir on his 2022 stabbing in New York, book publisher Penguin Random House said on Wednesday (11). Rushdie's new memoir, "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,"…
WHETHER it was as a child with an overactive imagination, actress, popular TV talk show host or people in everyday life oversharing with her, Koël Purie Rinchet has always been surrounded by stories. While living in Paris, she repeatedly encountered stories from women that had nothing in common socially, professionally,…
The generational oppression that women have faced makes him "feel guilty" as a man, says filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, who believes it is his duty as a storyteller to speak up against injustice whether it is political or social. Right from the beginning, Bhardwaj's stories have featured women with agency, be…
BROADCASTER and former EHRC chair Sir Trevor Phillips has said ministers should do more to encourage integration among communities. Sir Trevor, who in his previous role as head of the Commission for Racial Equality, warned in 2005 about Britain sleepwalking into segregation, said in an interview this week that minority…
THOSE who pursue romantic love across boundaries of caste, religion or class in India are even today “just asking to be murdered”, says the historian Joya Chatterji, emeritus professor of South Asian History at Cambridge University. She has given several examples of love leading to murder in her new book,…
Author Salman Rushdie has for the first time revealed his personal experiences in relation to the knife attack on him in New York, which resulted in the loss of vision in one eye. Rushdie has shared that he has been having "crazy dreams" about the incident and has sought assistance…
STANDING in front of the vast painting of the House of Commons in 1833 by Sir George Hayter at the National Portrait Gallery brought home how much Britain has changed. Perhaps someone should execute a similar canvas with Rishi Sunak at the centre of things, with the chamber dotted with…
Celebrated author Sir Salman Rushdie expressed his support for keeping the arts free from government interference at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards on Sunday (02). The discussion arose amid criticism surrounding the English National Opera's (ENO) relocation away from London. Rushdie echoed comments made by Melvyn Bragg, who highlighted…
During her appearance on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? on Max and CNN this weekend, Padma Lakshmi opened up about her former marriage with Salman Rushdie and said that she was afraid for her life every day while she was married to the celebrated yet controversial author. For those not…
Author Salman Rushdie revealed at the Hay literary festival (May 25 to June 4) which recently took place in Wales that he is currently working on a book recounting the incident in which he was stabbed on stage in New York last year, resulting in the loss of vision in…
Author Salman Rushdie said Tuesday (23) he was back at his writing desk after being repeatedly stabbed at an event last year in the US. Rushdie returned to Britain to be formally invested as a 'Companion of Honour', an exclusive royal accolade whose ranks are capped at 65 members. Speaking…
British-American novelist Salman Rushdie attended a New York gala on Thursday (18) night in his first public appearance since a knife attack that nearly took his life last year. The Mumbai-born writer, a naturalised American who has lived in New York for 20 years, lost sight in one eye after…
IN THE first half of the 20th century, Indian immigrants to Africa were often locked into a rigid racial hierarchy. They were conferred benefits not available to local black Africans but held back by their own colours from enjoying the wealth of opportunities enjoyed by the white population. With her…
JAMES BOND novels will be reissued with “a small number” of racially offensive references removed while “keeping as close as possible to the original text”.Racial words “likely to cause great office now” have been altered in the rewritten version of the thrillers in line with modern sensibilities, Ian Fleming Publications…
An Iranian foundation has praised the man who attacked novelist Salman Rushdie last year, leaving him severely injured and said it will reward him with 1,000 square metres of agricultural land, state TV reported on Tuesday through its Telegram channel. Rushdie, 75, lost an eye and the use of one…
Novelist Salman Rushdie led condemnations on Monday (20) of Roald Dahl's children's books being re-edited for a modern audience, calling it "absurd censorship" by "bowdlerising sensitivity police". Publishers Puffin have made hundreds of reported changes to characters and language in Dahl's stories, including making the diminutive Oompa-Loompas in Charlie and…
Salman Rushdie, the Mumbai-born author of Booker Prize-winning novel 'Midnight’s Children’, said on Monday that he feels lucky to have survived the last year’s brutal stabbing at a literary event in the US as he spoke for the first time about the “colossal attack”. The 75-year-old British American novelist was…
Six months after being stabbed, British author Salman Rushdie on Tuesday publishes his new novel "Victory City", an "epic tale" of a 14th-century woman who defies a patriarchal world to rule a city. Written before the US knife attack that nearly took the Indian-born author's life, the novel purports to…
Salman Rushdie lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand following an attack on stage at a literary event in western New York in August, his agent said. Andrew Wylie, who represents literary giants such as Saul Bellow and Roberto Bolano, described the extent of the injuries…
The organisers of the Booker prize have funded this year's winner Shehan Karunatilaka's flight to the UK to pick up the coveted prize, according to a media report. The Booker Prize Foundation extended financial support to the Sri Lankan writer to travel to Britain for the ceremony, The Times reported.…
Sri Lankan’s award-winning writer Shehan Karunatilaka said the recent stabbing of celebrated author Salman Rushdie forced him into “self-censoring”. Karunatilaka, whose novel The Seven Moons Of Maali Almeida won the Booker Prize, said he chose to exclude a couple of his short stories from a book which was being published…
Author JK Rowling has finally opened up about her absence from the "Harry Potter" reunion special, saying she made a conscious decision to skip it. In an interview Saturday as part of Graham Norton's Radio Show Podcast, Rowling addressed the rumours claiming she wasn't invited for the 20th anniversary reunion…
EARLIER this year, talking about her love of books, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, revealed that Vikram Seth is her favourite author. She said of her trips to India: “I’ve been lucky enough to see a lot of these wonderful old manuscripts and these illustrated books, you know, these ancient,…
A week after author Salman Rushdie was stabbed onstage at a literary event, writers and friends of the Mumbai-born author gathered at the New York Public Library here and read from his works, expressing their solidarity with him and his relentless advocacy for free expression. Literary and advocacy group PEN…
The man accused of stabbing novelist Salman Rushdie last week in western New York pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and assault charges on Thursday and was held without bail. Hadi Matar, 24, is accused of wounding Rushdie, 75, on Friday just before the "The Satanic Verses" author was…
The New Jersey man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie told the New York Post in an interview published Wednesday that he was "surprised" the author had survived the attack. "When I heard he survived, I was surprised, I guess," Hadi Matar, 24, told the tabloid, which said they held a…
Hundreds of writers, including the Booker Prize-winning Indian author Kiran Desai, will converge on New York on Friday to express solidarity with novelist Salman Rushdie who was stabbed in the city last week. They will read from Rushdie’s works on the steps of the New York Public Library, in an…
Padma Lakshmi, TV personality and former wife of Indian author Salman Rushdie, said that Rushdie is pulling through after Friday's nightmare and hoped that he heals swiftly following the stabbing incident that shocked the world. In a tweet, Padma Lakshmi wrote, "Relieved Salman Rushdie is pulling through after Friday's nightmare.…
Iran on Monday denied any link with the attacker of British author Salman Rushdie but blamed the writer himself for "insulting" Islam in the novel "The Satanic Verses". "We categorically deny" any link with the attack and "no one has the right to accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran," said…
Silvana Fardos, mother of Hadi Matar, 24 who is accused of repeatedly stabbing Indian-born-British author, Sir Salman Rushdie in western New York State on Friday morning as he prepared to give a lecture, told the MailOnline in an interview that her outgoing American-raised son turned moody and introverted after he…
The family of Salman Rushdie are "extremely relieved" he has been taken off a ventilator following his stabbing, and the British author has retained his "defiant sense of humour", his son said on Sunday. "We are extremely relieved that yesterday he was taken off the ventilator and additional oxygen and…
Renowned writer JK Rowling received an online death threat after condemning the attack on Indian-born novelist Salman Rushdie, prompting Police Scotland to investigate the matter. Soon after the news broke of the attempt on Rushdie’s life in New York on Friday, the Harry Potter author tweeted, “Feeling very sick right…
Salman Rushdie has been taken off a ventilator and was able to talk, a day after the Mumbai-born author was stabbed, in what US authorities said was a "targeted, unprovoked, preplanned" attack.Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years after writing "The Satanic Verses", was stabbed by a 24-year-old New…
Rishi Sunak, one of two candidates seeking to become Britain's next prime minister, said Friday's attack on author Salman Rushdie should serve as a wake-up call to the West over Iran, the Sunday Telegraph reported.Indian-born author Rushdie, who spent years in hiding after Iran urged Muslims to kill him over…
Attack on author Salman Rushdie has evoked widespread condemnation from people across the world. Like many, Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut also took to social media to express anger over the shocking incident. Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and abdomen at a literary event in New York, US, on…
The 24-year-old man detained in connection with the stabbing of Mumbai-born controversial author Salman Rushdie was sympathetic to "Shia extremism" and the causes of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to a media report. Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years after writing "The Satanic Verses", was stabbed on…
Iranian ultra-conservative newspaper Kayhan on Saturday (13) hailed the man who stabbed British author Salman Rushdie -- the target of a 1989 Iranian fatwa calling for his death. Rushdie was on a ventilator after the attack during a literary event in New York state on Friday, more than 30 years…
Salman Rushdie was on a ventilator with a damaged liver and may lose one of his eyes after the Mumbai-born controversial author was stabbed in the neck and abdomen by a man on stage at a literary event in upstate New York. Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years…
Renowned author Salman Rushdie who faced death threats from Iran because of his novel "The Satanic Verses", was attacked in New York State on Friday morning during a lecture has left literary figures and public officials in shock. Here are reactions to Friday's attack on novelist Salman Rushdie: SUZANNE NOSSEL,…
British author Salman Rushdie, whose writings made him the target of Iranian death threats that forced him into hiding, was attacked on stage Friday (12) in western New York state. Video footage posted on social media showed people rushing to his aid after he was attacked at the event in…
Author Sir Salman Rushdie and cricketer Moeen Ali are among a number of British Asians honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List published on Wednesday (1). With doctors, politicians, educators, authors, community leaders and philanthropists among the 13.3 per cent of recipients coming from an ethnic minority background, this list showcases…
THIS year’s annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painting, with over 200 works on display, drives home that this is a genre where British Asian artists appear to be missing out. There are a few, to be sure, such as Shanti Panchal, Suman Kaur and Akash Bhatt but…
Salman Rushdie’s next novel is likely to be set entirely in India and for that, he may return for a while to the country of his birth, the celebrated British-American author revealed at the Times Lit Fest on Sunday. “The last ten years I have mostly written these western-based novels,…
Christ's honours pharma boss Yusuf for his global humanitarian work A PORTRAIT of Yusuf Hamied, boss of the Indian pharma company, Cipla, has been unveiled at Christ’s, his old Cambridge college, in recognition of all his work as “a truly global representative of humanitarianism at its best”. Other than Amartya…
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters: Set in Victorian London and focusing on the world of petty thieves, this historical crime novel is one of my favourite books of all time. Sarah Waters’ story explores women’s social history, but it’s also a compelling page-turner with some of the best twists in literature.…
By Amit Roy WARM tributes were paid to the British espionage writer John le Carré, author of such Cold War spy classics as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, who died last Saturday (12), aged 89. What was slightly overlooked was the feud…
by LAUREN CODLING BOOKER PRIZE nominated author Avni Doshi has described the reaction to her debut novel as “something she had never dreamed of” – although she admitted the “hard” struggle of dealing with criticism. Doshi’s Burnt Sugar is a fictional account of the relationship between a mother and daughter…
Popular television actor Shalin Bhanot, who was last seen in Colors’ supernatural revenge drama Naagin 4, is rumoured to have added a high-profile project to his repertoire. Buzz has it that the talented actor has been finalised to play a pivotal role in acclaimed filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj’s next project. The…
Top prize winners Margaret Atwood, Orhan Pamuk and JM Coetzee led more than 250 literary and journalist luminaries who called Thursday (14) on India's prime minister Narendra Modi to revoke an order stripping writer Aatish Taseer of his "overseas citizenship". Salman Rushdie and leading Indian writer Amitav Ghosh also signed…
RENOWNED Indian authors RK Narayan, Arundhati Roy, Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth are among 100 writers featured in a list of the “most inspiring novels” chosen by a panel of experts and revealed by the BBC. From classics to contemporary, the list has 10 categories including identity, love, sex and…
Margaret Atwood and Bernardine Evaristo jointly won the 2019 Booker Prize on Monday (14) after judges “flout” the rules by declaring a tie. British Indian novelist Salman Rushdie’s tragicomic Quichotte was among the six books shortlisted for the prize. The Booker rules say the prize must not be divided, but…
CELEBRATED WRITER HANIF KUREISHI ON HIS JOURNEY AND REVISITING A LANDMARK STORY by MITA MISTRY Acclaimed writer Hanif Kureishi has left a permanent mark on the literary landscape. But more than being a great writer, the creative genius smashed glass ceilings and inspired a generation with boundary-breaking work that includes his…
TWO previous winners, Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie, were shortlisted on Tuesday (3) for the Booker Prize for the best English-language fiction to be awarded in October. Canadian author Atwood has been nominated to the six-person list for The Testaments, her hotly anticipated sequel to The Handmaid's Tale due out…
BRITISH INDIAN novelist Salman Rushdie’s yet-to-be-published novel Quichotte has made it to the longlist of this year’s Booker Prize. Rushdie has earlier won the Booker in 1981 for Midnight’s Children. Canadian writer Margaret Atwood, who had earlier bagged the award in 2000 for Blind Assassins, is another former winner on…
After Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwani, Sujoy Ghosh is the next well-established Bollywood filmmaker who is set to venture into the world of digital content. The director, who recently delivered one of the biggest hits of his career in the form of Badla (2019), is stepping into the web-space with…
by ASJAD NAZIR Authors with a strong South Asian connection have won prestigious literary prizes over the years and in the process inspired countless others to follow in their giant footsteps. They have also left literary works that have become a part of history and permanently imprinted on the minds…
by Amit Roy IF THERE is a country other than Britain or India that has shaped my life, it has been Iran, where I was sent as a young reporter on my first foreign assignment by The Daily Telegraph. My tin trunk with press releases, newspaper clippings, maps, telex messages,…
After decades spent in the shadow of a death sentence pronounced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Salman Rushdie is quietly defiant. "I don't want to live hidden away," he told AFP during a visit to Paris. The novelist's life changed forever on February 14, 1989, when Iran's spiritual leader ordered Rushdie's…
by Amit Roy Oxford University’s world renowned Bodleian Library has revealed it has been collecting books considered “too sexually explicit” for ordinary users of the library for well over a century. On the list of 3,000 once restricted books are several Indian titles, among them the Kama Sutra by Vatsyayana…
by AMIT ROY FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES PAY TRIBUTE TO BROADCAST ICON WARM tributes have been paid to the pioneering broadcaster Mahendra Kaul, who passed away in London last Wednesday (11), aged 95. For two decades, he was the face of BBC television programmes aimed at the first generation of immigrants from…
“MY FIRST love was literature and I grew up reading novels. Here are 10 books, in no particular order, that have affected me in a profound way,” said Guleraana Mir. Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie: This is a story of where stories come from, and at…
Salman Rushdie and four other Indian-origin authors are in the running for the Golden Man Booker Prize, a special one-off award that is being launched to mark the literary award's 50th anniversary. Along with Rushdie, four other Indian-origin authors are in the running for this award. They are V.S. Naipaul…
Adoption drama Lion has found a great fan in author Salman Rushdie, who wants the movie to win every Oscar it has been nominated for and then some more for its message of “common humanity”. Calling it a “three-hankie” movie, Rushdie said he wept “unstoppably” while watching the film on…