Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Rushdie releases new novel, six months after knife attack

Written before the US knife attack that nearly took the Indian-born author’s life, the novel purports to be a translation of a historical epic originally written in Sanskrit.

Six months after being stabbed, British author Salman Rushdie on Tuesday publishes his new novel "Victory City", an "epic tale" of a 14th-century woman who defies a patriarchal world to rule a city.

Written before the US knife attack that nearly took the Indian-born author's life, the novel purports to be a translation of a historical epic originally written in Sanskrit.


The much-anticipated work tells the tale of young orphan girl Pampa Kampana who is endowed by a goddess with magical powers and founds the city, in modern-day India, of Bisnaga, which translates as Victory City.

Rushdie, 75, will not promote his 15th novel due to his physical condition, although his agent Andrew Wylie told The Guardian that his "recovery is progressing".

He was attacked as he was about to speak at a conference in Chautauqua in upstate New York, near Lake Erie, on August 12.

The author had lived in hiding for years after Iran's first supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered his killing for what he deemed the blasphemous nature of "The Satanic Verses".

The stabbing suspect, Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old from New Jersey with roots in Lebanon, was arrested immediately after the attack and subsequently pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Words 'the only victors' 

Rushdie, a naturalised American who has lived in New York for 20 years, lost the sight in one eye and the use of one hand, Wylie said in October.

The attack shocked the West but was welcomed by extremists in Muslim countries such as Iran and Pakistan.

While not personally promoting the book, Rushdie has begun to communicate via social network Twitter, most often to share press reviews of his new novel.

Several events are also planned to accompany its release, including a conference with writers Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman that will be broadcast online.

An icon of free speech since he was subjected to the fatwa that forced him into hiding, Rushdie is still an outspoken defender of the power of words.

His new work follows a heroine on a mission to "give women equal agency in a patriarchal world", according to publisher Penguin Random House's summary.

The book tells the tale of Pampa Kampana's creation of a city and of its downfall.

"Over the next 250 years, Pampa Kampana's life becomes deeply interwoven with Bisnaga's, from its literal sowing from a bag of magic seeds to its tragic ruination in the most human of ways: the hubris of those in power," it added.

The novel concludes with the statement: "Words are the only victors".

A 'triumph' 

US author Colum McCann wrote in The New York Times that his friend Rushdie was saying "something quite profound" in Victory City.

"He's saying, 'You will never take the fundamental act of storytelling away from people.'

"In the face of danger, even in the face of death, he manages to say that storytelling is one currency we all have."

The Atlantic magazine called it a "triumph — not because it exists, but because it is utterly enchanting.

"When you think about it, Rushdie's novels are a miracle," it added.

Born in Mumbai in 1947, Rushdie published his first novel "Grimus" in 1975, and gained worldwide fame six years later with "Midnight's Children" which won him the Booker Prize in the UK.

"Victory City" will be released in the US on Tuesday and the UK on Thursday.

More For You

Air India flight crash
Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft, operating flight AI-171 to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on June 12.
Getty Images

Probing all angles in Air India crash, including sabotage: Minister

INDIA’s junior civil aviation minister said on Sunday that all possible angles, including sabotage, were being looked into as part of the investigation into the Air India crash.

All but one of the 242 people on board the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner were killed when it crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. Authorities have identified 19 others who died on the ground. However, a police source told AFP after the crash that the death toll on the ground was 38.

Keep ReadingShow less
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury

Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury

BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.

"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).

Keep ReadingShow less
Three killed, dozens injured in India temple stampede

Police officials visit the site after a stampede near Shree Gundicha Temple, in Puri, Odisha, Sunday, June 29, 2025. (PTI Photo)

Three killed, dozens injured in India temple stampede

AT LEAST three people, including two women, died and around 50 others were injured in a stampede near the Shree Gundicha Temple in Puri, Odisha, Indian, on Sunday (29) morning, according to local officials.

The incident occurred around 4am (local time) as hundreds of devotees gathered to witness the Rath Yatra (chariot festival), Puri district collector Siddharth S Swain confirmed.

Keep ReadingShow less
F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ahmedabad air crash
Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ahmedabad crash: Grief, denial and trauma haunt families

TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.

The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

Keep ReadingShow less