Ian Jack argues that an editor must ask what good the publication of an article or a cartoon will do. And additionally, what harm will accrue. The British press, in his opinion, has done the right thing by not publishing the Danish cartoons. Another commentator, Salil Tripathi, takes the opposite tack. Haunted by the ghost of Khomeini, and resurrecting Rushdie, Tripathi argues that everyone has the right to speak; the right not to listen; and the right to be a schmuck.

To read the Index on Censorship, go here.

“Treat Africa as if it were one country. It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates. Don’t get bogged down with precise descriptions. Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book.
Make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls, and eat things no other humans eat. Do not mention rice and beef and wheat; monkey-brain is an African’s cuisine of choice, along with goat, snake, worms and grubs and all manner of game meat. Make sure you show that you are able to eat such food without flinching, and describe how you learn to enjoy it—because you care.”

More from Binyavanga Wainaina in Granta.

Book Bar. Have a few sundowners.