Fireside Chat with Salman Rushdie

This video features a fireside chat with Sir Salman Rushdie, one of the most celebrated authors of our time. Sir Rushdie had a wide-ranging discussion with Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, on free speech in cultural institutions.

Sir Salman Rushdie’s novels, greeted always with anticipation and acclaim, include The Satanic Verses, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet and The Enchantress of Florence. His most recent work, Lauguages of Truth, is a collection of non-fiction essays from 2003-2020. These essays illuminate truths about our society and culture through his gorgeous and often searing prose. His latest novel, Quichotte, was included in TIME’s list of 100 Must-Read Books of 2019, and was shortlisted finalist for the 2019 Booker Prize. An eclectic writer and noted public intellectual, Rushdie has won many of the world’s top literary prizes, published a heralded collection of essays, Step Across the Line, and served for two years as president of The PEN American Center, the world’s oldest human rights organization.

Suzanne Nossel is the CEO of PEN America, the leading human rights and free expression organization, and is a key voice on free expression issues in the United States and globally. During the Obama administration, Nossel served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organisations. She is the author of Dare To Speak: Defending Free Speech For All and has been widely published in outlets including the New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Guardian, Foreign Policy, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Washington Post and more. She is a Member of the Meta Oversight Board, which applies human rights principles to shape high-impact content moderation decisions on social media.