19623 - ams - commemoration # 1 - The World of Salman Rushdie

 

Just nine days after the publication of his novel 'Satanic Verses', a fatwa was issued against Salman Rushdie. The Japanese translator of the work, Hitoshi Igarashi, was stabbed to death in 1991. Italian translator Ettore Capriolo and Norwegian publisher William Nygard were also targeted, surviving the attacks with severe injuries. Rushdie's father was a successful business man and the family could afford to send their son to a British boarding school at the age of 14. In 1964, Rushdie became a British citizen and took up English as his preferred language to write in. He studied history at King’s College in Cambridge and took courses in theatre before graduating in 1968. He has written 12 novels and many collection of essays and non-fiction. His second book, 'Midnight’s Children' won him a Man Booker Prize and became a bestseller in the US. Rushdie, in 2021 said that he will set his next novel in India. He is planning to return to India after many years. The author last came to India for the promotion of Deepa Mehta's 2013 film "Midnight's Children". Rushdie has worked with artist Ai Weiwei and writers Margaret Atwood and Isabel Allende on a worldwide campaign by the PEN International writers association to support writers in exile. In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II knighted the award-winning author and freedom of expression warrior. Recently, Rushdie was honoured on the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II awarded the Order of the Companions for his services in the field of literature. 

The Man International Booker Prize - Celebrating the Author and the Translator

Man International Booker Prize complements the Man Booker Prize. The prize was awarded every two years. Since 2016, the award has been given annually. The prize money is 50,000 GBP. Earlier it was given in recognition of a writer's body of work rather than one title. Sine 2016, it is awarded to a single book translated to English. The prize money is shared between the author and the translator. Now the award is renamed the International Booker Prize. I was fortunate to meet and listen to the words of Jokha Alharthi, the Omani writer who won the award in 2019. I was attending an International Conference at PSMO college in Malapuram district in Kerala. Mrs Jokha Alharthi was the Keynote Speaker. The book which won her the award was Celestial Bodies. The translation of the book is available in Malayalam, and the translation was done by my good friend and well-wisher Ibrahim Badusha Wafi. 

 

Ruskin Press plays a pivotal role in publishing the translated works from different languages. David Diop's book 'At Night All Blood is Black' is translated by Anna Moschovakis. She is a poet, author and translator. This post introduces three translated books published by Pushkin Press.

 

No Place to Lay One's Hand by Françoise Frenkel - The preface to the book is written by Patrick Modiano. The story of Françoise Frenkel - a Polish Jew who opens her bookshop in Berlin, which was a dream project for her. The dream lasted only for two decades. Françoise flees to France due to Aryanization. When the war starts, she moves to Nice and is horrified by what she sees around her. The book is translated by Stephanie Smee. 

 

On Love and Tyranny - The Life and Politics of Hannah Arendt by Ann Heberlein How the ground-breaking work of Hannah Arendt was shaped by both her personal and outside world. The biography traces the journey of Hannah Arendt from Germany and then to Occupied France. The book is translated by Alice Menzies. 

 

The Limits of My Language - Meditation on Depression by Eva Meijer. The book deals with the treatment of depression and how it can influence our bodies. The book also tells us 'how to move on from our darkest thoughts. The translator is Antoinette Fawcett