Rushdie's 'Knife' attack memoir longlisted for UK non-fiction prize

September 05, 2024 21:56

Booker Prize-winning Salman Rushdie may become the first author to bag a prestigious literary prize in both fiction and non-fiction genres after his account of surviving an on-stage assassination attempt was named on the longlist of the GBP 50,000 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction in London on Thursday.

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by the celebrated Indian-American-British author is among 12 books on the longlist for one of the world's leading awards that aims to reward the best of non-fiction and is open to authors of any nationality.

The judges for this year's prize said his memoir presents an "intimate and personal account of a world-historical event' as the New York based author recovers from the near-fatal stabbing.

"Reaching a longlist in a year when so many wonderful non-fiction books have been published was never going to be easy, but I could not be happier with the result," said London-based journalist-broadcaster Isabel Hilton, chair of judges.

"It is, of course, a list of remarkable and outstanding books, and they shed new and brilliant light on our contemporary world through explorations of history, of memory, of science and nature. Collectively this wonderful reflection of creativity, of critical thinking and great writing left us in no doubt that the non-fiction world is overflowing with energy and talent," she said.

Australian author Richard Flanagan is another fellow Booker Prize-winning novelist longlisted for the non-fiction prize for Question 7, which accounts his own near-death experience. -- PTI

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