peace prize
Daniel Kehlmann holds eulogy for Salman Rushdie
Daniel Kehlmann (l) and Salman Rushdie in Berlin in 2017. photo
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade goes to Salman Rushdie, who was attacked with a knife last year. The eulogy for the author will be given by his friend Daniel Kehlmann.
The author Daniel Kehlmann will be the eulogy for this year’s Peace Prize winner in the fall Holding Salman Rushdie. This was announced by the stock exchange association of the German book trade in Frankfurt. The two writers have been close friends for many years. The 76-year-old Rushdie, who was seriously injured in an assassination last summer, will receive the award on October 22 in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche.
The Indian-born author was honored “for his inflexibility, his life affirmation and for the fact that he enriches the world with his love of storytelling,” the foundation board justified its decision in June. Since his 1981 masterpiece Midnight Children, Rushdie has impressed with his interpretations of migration and global politics. In his novels and non-fiction books, he combines narrative foresight with constant literary innovation, humor and wisdom. “He describes the force with which violent regimes destroy entire societies, but also the indestructible spirit of resistance of individuals.”
Rushdie was attacked with a knife and seriously injured during a lecture in the United States last summer. He has been blind in one eye ever since. The attack came more than 30 years after Iran’s former revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for the assassination of Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses in 1989.
Bestselling author Kehlmann (“Measuring the World”) also described the decision of the Foundation Board as a “sign of solidarity”. “To live in such a way that life is threatened is not an empty gesture, it means something. And anything that highlights the fact that he is a really, really great writer, a seminal writer of his generation and of our time, that’s also very important,” said the 48-year-old in June on the 3sat program “Kulturzeit”.
The Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, the professional organization of publishers and bookstores, has been awarding the EUR 25,000 prize since 1950. It honors personalities who have contributed to the realization of the idea of peace in literature, science or art. The award is traditionally presented at the end of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Last year, the Ukrainian author Serhij Zhadan received the award.