I wish I hadn’t listened to Rushdie: Writer William Dalrymple

Writer William Dalrymple recounts the difficulties he faced over the years in Jaipur lit fest at BLF.

Dalrymple bristled at a question put to him asking if the controversies at JLF had been planted by the organisers themselves to gain attention. In fact, they had done their best to avoid controversy last year by leaving out Salman Rushdie’s name from the schedule of speakers for the festival. But Rushdie would have none of that: “I don’t want to be like a white rabbit coming out a hat. So put out my name in the list,” he told Dalrymple.