's Hiding Place

By Staff

Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 10:46

At the time of his internal exile, controversial author Salmaan Rushdie hid in the Cotswold cottage that belonged to the British novelist Ian McEwan. This was twenty years ago when a fatwa was issued against the Indian-born author by Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

Ian McWwan reveals in detail when Rushdie hid away after the fatwa was issued on February 16, 1989. As reported by the Guardian, the details will be available in the long profile of McEwan that will be published in the next weeks issue of the New Yorker.

The profile is written by the editor at the magazine, Daniel Zalewski. The profile highlights explores McEwan's growing commitment to science and rationality as a factor, alongside the Rushdie affair, behind the controversy over Islamic fundamentalism in which he later became embroiled.

Rushdie's encounter with McEwan came days after the fatwa was issued, followed by many years of internal exile."I'll never forget - the next morning we got up early. He had to move on. Terrible time for him. We stood at the kitchen counter making toast and coffee, listening to the eight o'clock BBC news. He was standing right by my side and he was the lead item on the news. Hezbollah had put its sagacity and weight behind the project to kill him," McEwan tells the New Yorker.

McEwan was regarded by many of his friends as having an inclination towards more spiritual view of the world, until the dispute over 'The Satanic Verses' and its blasphemy against the Prophet had grown.

Regarded as 'England's national author, New York remarks that he is currently regarded by the British media with avidity, that is exclusively reserved for Amy Winehouse otherwise. AGENCIES