Salman Rushdie visits campus
Famous author discusses his craft, death sentence issued by Iran
Briana Hernandez
Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: News
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Rushdie, writer of such books as "The Satanic Verses" and "East, West Stories," was introduced by Center for Literary Arts co-directors Kate Evens and Kelly Harrison as well as his interviewer, Revathi Krishnaswamy, an SJSU English professor.
After his introduction, Rushdie delivered a 30-minute speech on his journey as a novelist, the subject matter of his books, and his personal style as a writer. This was followed by an on-stage interview with Krishnaswamy and a question-and-answer session that concluded the event at 9 p.m.
During the interview, Rushdie was asked about the death sentence he was placed under by then-Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini for blasphemy after publishing "The Satanic Verses" in 1988.
"I was shocked," he said. "Of course I was. It was unexpected simply because it had never happened before."
Rushdie spoke of fundamentalism and violence in today's society as well as feminism in his books.
During the interview, the audience was asked to write down its questions on pieces of paper, which were collected and handed to professor Krishnaswamy to direct the audience's questions.
Center for Literary Arts co-director Harrison said questions were dealt within this fashion to avoid a number of problems that come with audience participation. She said sometimes audience questions can be repetitious or irrelevant.
"Sometimes people will ask totally random questions like, 'What is your favorite color?' 'Do you have a dog?'" she said. "It's basically so the event will run smoothly. That's all."
Harrison said both she and co-director Evans collected audience questions and selected and organized the best ones for Krishnaswamy to use. She said in large events such as Rushdie's appearance, it is typical to deliver audience questions this way.
The question that ended the night was, "Can literature change the world?"
Rushdie answered, "No. It can't change the world, but it can change people. I don't want books to change the world. It's hard enough to understand the world."
Dan Vo, a senior English major, attended Thursday night's event as an extra credit assignment for his poetry class.
"I thought it was pretty cool," he said. "I liked the end with the Q&A."
Though Vo attended for a school assignment, he paid the $10 admission fee for SJSU students.
"It's 10 bucks," he said. "It's not a big deal."
Duncan Lange, marketing and events manager for Associated Students at SJSU, said the Rushdie event was sponsored by Associated Students who mainly had a hand in advertising.
"I thought it was successful," he said. "We had a really good turnout. I think having someone on Rushdie's level on campus was the most important thing."
Lange said, however, that final income figures for the event are not yet available but that 700-800 people attended.
Harrison said, however, "We pretty much know when we bring in somebody like Rushdie that we won't make money off the event. For us, it is never a money-making endeavor."
The Center for Literary Arts uses fundraising and grants to finance an author's fee for appearing on campus, Harrison said. It is when the amount cannot be fully covered by such means that students are then charged to attend.
"This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students," she said. "Nowhere else would you be able to see Rushdie for 10 bucks."
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