Tuesday, September 25, 2012

From the Archives: Rushdie's secret Dublin Visit


It is timely that in the week which saw the writer Salman Rushdie publish his long awaited memoirs, that I should come across the following press cutting as part of box-listing a collection. The cutting details a visit made by Rushdie to Dublin in 1993. This visit took place, of course, during the very height of the controversy and consequent 'Fatwa' out on the life of Rushdie owing to the publication of his novel the Satanic Versus, on January 15th 1993, with the press cuttings, taken from the Irish Press, dated the following day.


 

The Article reads: "There was a marked security presence at Trinity College last night where the writer defied death threats to appear at a conference on censorship and democracy." Rushdie met in private with President Mary McAleese and other leading Government and political figures earlier in the day though then Taoiseach Albert Reynolds "declined to meet the writer" and these meetings had been subject to a "news blackout".

Rushdie's recently published memoir is entitled Joseph Anton - both names coming from the forenames of Conrad and Chekhov and was also the cover-name that Rushdie operated under when under fear of threat to his life.

The eagle-eyed among you may spot a familiar face at the talk by Rushdie on the second page of coverage, none other than Bono!

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