Salman Rushdie: Knife
Join the Southbank Centre and English PEN for the launch of Rushdie’s memoir, as he shares his survival story via livestream in conversation with Erica Wagner.
Hear Salman Rushdie speaking out for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, about the traumatic events of his attempted murder on 12 August 2022. He answers violence with art and reminds us of the power of words to make sense of the unthinkable.
In an evening combining live readings from actor Anjana Vasan, and candid reflections from Salman Rushdie, who joins us via video livestream, this unique event offers a deeply personal account of the attack and its aftermath.
Join the event in-person or online to hear directly from the internationally renowned and Booker Prize-winning author Salman Rushdie as he talks openly about enduring – and surviving – an attempt on his life.
Salman Rushdie is the author of fifteen previous novels, including Midnight’s Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), Shame, The Satanic Verses, The Moor’s Last Sigh, and Quichotte, all of which have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
He is a former president of PEN America and the recipient of the PEN Centenary Courage Award. His books have been translated into over forty languages. In 2023, he was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of the Year.
In June 2007 he received a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. He joined the prestigious Companions of Honour in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in her Platinum Jubilee year.
Erica Wagner’s books include Mary and Mr Eliot: A Sort-of Love Story; Chief Engineer: Washington Roebling, The Man Who Built the Brooklyn Bridge; First Light: A Celebration of Alan Garner and a novel, Seizure. She was the literary editor of The Times for seventeen years and is a contributing writer for the New Statesman and consulting literary editor for Harper’s Bazaar. She is Goldsmiths Distinguished Writers’ Centre Fellow and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023.
Anjana Vasan was born in Chennai, India, and moved to Singapore when she was four. She is an actress and singer-songwriter based in London. Anjana is known for her stage work, winning a Laurence Olivier Award for her role in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Almeida Theatre in 2023, opposite Paul Mescal and Patsy Ferran. Anjana was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for her role in the Channel 4 sitcom We Are Lady Parts. Other TV appearances include Black Mirror and Killing Eve, among many others.
Need to know
Top-price tickets include a copy of Knife for the discounted price of £15 (RRP £20). The book must be collected on the night of the event, as we’re unable to distribute copies afterwards.
Please note that Salman Rushdie joins this event via video livestream.
This event is also available to watch online.
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Access
This event is Speech-to-Text transcribed (STT).
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For your visit
This event is held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall Southbank Centre
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is open from 90 minutes before events start until they finish. It’s closed at all other times.
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The Queen Elizabeth Hall is home to both our second-largest auditorium and the Purcell Room.
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We’re working hard to remove barriers, so that our facilities and events can be accessible to as many people as possible.
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