Salman Rushdie: Satanic Verses ‘would not be published today’

Sir Salman Rushdie has said he does not think his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses would be published today because of a climate of “fear and nervousness”.

The writer said the banning of his book in many countries and the subsequent threats on his life had created a “long-term chilling effect”.

“A book which was critical of Islam now, would be difficult to be published, ” he told the BBC’s Will Gompertz.

The writer is set to release his memoirs, entitled Joseph Anton – a reference to his favourite authors Conrad and Chekhov – which tells of how he was forced underground in 1989 over his book.