Sir Salman Rushdie

Novelist and essayist

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is a British-Indian novelist and essayist. Following the publication of his controversial fourth novel The Satanic Verses (1988), a fatwā was issued against him by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran. Rushdie was forced into hiding to protect himself from the death threats he had received from some members of the Islamic community, only to re-emerge when the fatwā was lifted nearly a decade later.

He was appointed a Knight Bachelor for services to literature in June 2007. He also holds the highest rank -Commandeur - in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France. His latest novel, entitled The Enchantress of Florence, was published in June 2008. In July 2008, Midnight's Children won the public vote for Best of the Booker-best novel in the award's 40-year history.