Author Salman Rushdie awarded prestigious German prize for his literary work and resolve

The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade said the British-American author would receive the award in Frankfurt on Oct 22.

Salman Rushdie has been awarded a prestigious German prize for his literary work and for his resolve and positive attitude in the face of constant danger, the prize organisers said on June 19. File | Photo Credit: Reuters

Writer Salman Rushdie has been awarded a prestigious German prize for his literary work and for his resolve and positive attitude in the face of constant danger, the prize organisers said on June 19.

The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade said the British-American author would receive the award in Frankfurt on Oct 22.

Rushdie's writing “combines narrative vision with constant literary innovation, humour and wisdom,” the jury said. “He describes the force with which violent regimes destroy whole societies, but also the indestructibility of the individual's spirit of resistance.” Last August, Rushdie was stabbed repeatedly while on stage at a literary festival in New York state.

“Despite massive physical and psychological consequences that he is still wrestling with, he continues to write - in an imaginative and deeply human way,” the German jury wrote. “We are honouring Salman Rushdie for his resolve, his positive attitude to life and for the fact that he enriches the world with his pleasure in narrating.”

Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had condemned as blasphemous passages referring to the Prophet Muhammad in Rushdie's 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses." Khomeini issued a decree the following year calling for Rushdie's death, forcing the author into hiding, although he had been travelling freely for years before last summer's stabbing.

The German prize, which is endowed with 25,000 euros ($27,350), has been awarded since 1950.