Salman Rushdie is an Indian-British novelist and essayist, known for his controversial and well-regarded body of writing. He wrote Midnight's Children, which was awarded the Booker Prize, but he also wrote Satanic Verses, the controversy around which forced him to go into hiding (because of death threats and fatwā). He's considered one of the most important writers of his time.
Salman Rushdie Birth:
His parents were Anis Ahmed Rushdie, a University of Cambridge-educated lawyer turned businessman, and Negin Bhatt, a teacher. He was born in Bombay, India into a Muslim family of Kashmiri descent.
Salman Rushdie Education:
He was educated at Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai, Rugby School, and King's College, Cambridge, where he studied History.
Awards and Recognition:
- Aristeion Prize (European Union)
- Arts Council Writers' Award
- Author of the Year (British Book Awards)
- Author of the Year (Germany)
- Booker Prize for Fiction
- Booker of Bookers for the best novel among the Booker Prize winners for Fiction awarded at its 25th anniversary (in 1993)
- The Best of the Booker awarded to commemorate the Booker Prize's 40th anniversary (in 2008), winner by public vote
- Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France)
- English-Speaking Union Award
- Honorary Patron, University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin.
- Hutch Crossword Book Award (India)
- India Abroad Lifetime Achievement Award (USA)
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize (Fiction)
- Kurt Tucholsky Prize (Sweden)
- Mantua Prize (Italy)
- James Joyce Award - University College Dublin
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology Honorary Professorship
- Chapman University Honorary Doctorate - Doctor of Humane Letters
- Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Cultural Humanism (Harvard University)
- Premio Grinzane Cavour (Italy)
- Prix Colette (Switzerland)
- Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger
- St. Louis Literary Award - Saint Louis University
- State Prize for Literature (Austria)
- Whitbread Novel Award (twice)
- Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Children's Fiction
