Salman Rushdie with Allan Little: Standing in the Rubble of Truth

World famous for his novels, Salman Rushdie is the author of fourteen works of fiction including the Booker Prize-winning Midnight’s Children and his most recent book Quichotte, shortlisted for the Booker in 2019. Alongside his storytelling, Rushdie’s non-fiction and criticism offers perceptive insights into literature, art and politics – and now Languages of Truth draws together essays written between 2003 and 2020. Taken together these pieces (some never previously published) are a demonstration of the New York-based author’s deep commitment to freedom of speech. Across subjects ranging from artists and fellow writers through to politics, migration and truth itself, Rushdie shows himself to be a courageous chronicler of a rapidly changing world. He joined us at the 2021 Edinburgh International Book Festival, for Allan Little’s Big Interview, talking to the acclaimed BBC journalist about the role of writing in shaping public debate, and his own encounters with artists and writers trying to rebuild a shared sense of what is ‘true’.