The Reith Lectures cover image

1. Freedom of Speech

The Reith Lectures

CHAPTER

A Novel by Saman Rashdi

On a calm morning in New York this August, Saman Rashdi was attacked while just about to speak on the freedom of speech. The Iranian regime declared his Satanic verses offensive and condemned not just Rashdi but all his publishers to death. His Italian translator was stabbed, his Norwegian publisher was shot, and his Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was murdered in Tokyo. Would Rashdi's novel be published today? Probably not. would it even be written? Possibly not.

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