Salman Rushdie author page

Salman Rushdie biography

Salman Rushdie is a British-Indian author and novelist known for his works of fiction that blend historical narrative with magical realism. He was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, and later moved to the United Kingdom. Rushdie studied at Rugby School and then at King’s College, University of Cambridge, where he read history.

Rushdie’s first novel, Grimus, was published in 1975. He gained international recognition with his second novel, Midnight’s Children (1981), which won the Booker Prize. The novel explores the transition of India from British colonialism to independence and the partition of India. Midnight’s Children was also awarded the Booker of Bookers in 1993 and the Best of the Booker in 2008, honours given to the best Booker Prize winner on the award’s 25th and 40th anniversaries, respectively.

Rushdie’s fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988), became the centre of controversy due to its depiction of Islamic history and themes, leading to widespread protests and a fatwa calling for his death issued by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini. Despite this, Rushdie continued to write and publish novels, essays, and short stories.

His other notable works include Shame (1983), The Moor’s Last Sigh (1995), The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999), Shalimar the Clown (2005), The Enchantress of Florence (2008), Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights (2015), and Quichotte (2019), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Rushdie has also written a memoir, Joseph Anton (2012), which recounts his life under the fatwa. In addition to his novels, he has published collections of essays and works for children, including Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990) and Luka and the Fire of Life (2010).

In 2023, Rushdie published Victory City, a novel inspired by Indian history and mythology.