Wyoming Arts Council

Salman Rushdie on UW fall schedule

Uncategorized | June 5, 2008

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From a UW press release:

Salman Rushdie, renowned novelist and human rights activist, will visit Laramie this fall as a guest of the University of Wyoming Department of English L.L. Smith Lecture Series.

The internationally-acclaimed writer will speak and answer audience questions at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in the UW College of Arts and Sciences auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. On Friday, Sept. 26, from 9-10:30 a.m at the Albany County Public Library (ACPL), Rushdie will lead a breakfast conversation about his writing. Attendance is free, but seating is limited. To reserve tickets, contact 307-721-2580 ext. 5456 or albypr@will.state.wy.us. The event is sponsored by the Albany County Public Library Foundation.

Other events planned for Rushdie’s visit include book discussions of “The Satanic Verses” in September, hosted by the ACPL. The University of Wyoming Libraries will provide a limited number of free copies of the novel to the public. Further details about the book discussions will be announced later.

“Salman Rushdie is one of the most successful, controversial and celebrated authors of our time,” says Peter Parolin, head of the UW Department of English. “His work has won critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, while his ideas have stimulated, galvanized and provoked.”

Rushdie is best known for the worldwide storm surrounding his novel “The Satanic Verses,” which led to a standing death sentence from the Islamic regime of Iran. Since then, he has been an outspoken advocate for freedom of expression and mutual tolerance.

Rushdie is currently distinguished writer in residence at Emory University near Atlanta. His tenth novel, “The Enchantress of Florence,” was published this spring.

The English department’s L.L. Smith Lecture Series, named in honor of a former department head, brings distinguished authors to Wyoming. Recent L.L. Smith speakers include Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and Canadian novelist Michael Ondaatje.

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