Salman Rushie to Write A Book About Being Stabbed Onstage
Salman Rushdie told the Hay Literary Festival that he will be writing a book about being stabbed on stage in New York last year, an attack which left him without sight in one eye. During his pre-recorded Zoom appearance at the festival, the author said, “It will be a relatively short book, a couple of hundred pages. It’s not the easiest book in the world to write but it’s something I need to get past in order to do anything else. I can’t really start writing a novel that’s got nothing to do with this… So I just have to deal with it.” Rushdie was awarded this year’s Hay festival medal for prose for his novel Victory City. Rushie assured the Hay festival audience that he was doing okay, and he appreciated the positive response to his novel, which was written before the attack but published after.
Rings of Power Star Sophia Nomvete Discusses Fighting Against Racist Backlash
Sophia Nomvete, who plays Disa in Rings of Power, is opening up about the racist backlash she received upon joining the Tolkien universe. At The Hollywood Reporter’s second annual Raising Our Voices luncheon, Nomvete shared that being cast in the series “was a huge moment, both personally and professionally. And I think I kind of skipped in naively thinking that it’s gonna be great. I’m a dwarf, it’s gonna be such fun.” But the reality of being part of the widely-watched series was much different. “When the announcement came out and pictures went up about just our faces of who we were playing, I was statistically the most attacked castmember of the entire show,” she said. She confessed that even her family members were threatened. But Nomvete said she “realized that my place in this show is not just a celebration, it is an act of defiance against a reality that is simply not true, which is that we have no place on screens or in fantasy spaces.”
Vermont Bookstore Fights Book Bans with Pride Readathon for June
Bear Pond Books in Montpelier, Vermont, is fighting against book bans by hosting a Pride Readathon the entire month of June. Participants in the readathon will raise money for every LGBTQ+ book they read. The bookstore is hoping to raise $40,000 to support Outright Vermont’s Camp Outright, a summer camp for LGBTQ+ kids. A private donor has offered to match the funds raised up to $20,000 in the Pride Readathon. If you don’t wish to participate in the readathon, you are still welcome to donate. You can read more about the Pride Readathon here.
The 25 Best Horror Books of 2023
Get ready to get spooked. Find the best horror books 2023 has to offer that have defined the year in horror.