Salman Rushdie at the Banff Centre

By a great coincidence, I happened to be in Banff the same weekend as Salman Rushdie was giving a talk at the Banff Centre on his latest book! And got the news early enough to book a seat. The amphitheatre was unsurprisingly full and Salman Rushdie was interviewed by Eleanor Wachtel, first about the book and what led to its creation, especially the influence of his parents, and then second about his life and career, with an obvious focus on Khomeini’s fatwa. (The whole interview is podcasted on CBC.) Rushdie was witty and funny, even about the darkest moments, and discussed how in his youth no one would have imagined that religion would become such a central issue, defining and reducing people rather than being a part of them that would need no discussion. And how his family was de facto atheist, if not in words. The interview spent too little time on Rusdhie’s stand on freedom of expression, although he briefly spoke about the growing threats to this freedom, including those made in the name of religious freedom. (As we were reminded yesterday by the Warwick student union decision to bar Maryam Namazie from speaking on campus.) The experience was quite a treat, adding to the many bonuses of spending this weekend in Banff. Although I must admit I was fighting jetlag that late at night and hence must have dozed at points… (As an aside, I was rather surprised to see no security or police around the Banff Centre theatre, but of course this does not mean there was none. And this is Banff, not New York City or London.)