Photo: Elena Ternovaja / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Salman Rushdie is genuinely one of those writers who makes you feel like language itself is doing something impossible — bending, multiplying, sneaking mythology into the grocery list. Born in Mumbai, educated at King's College Cambridge, he came up writing this dazzling blend of magical realism and historical weight that made Midnight's Children feel like the whole subcontinent dreamed it at once, and then he won the Booker Prize for it in 1981 like it was obvious. The Satanic Verses then put him at the center of one of the most harrowing literary controversies in modern history, and he spent years living under a fatwa with bodyguards — a reality most writers couldn't even imagine — and still kept writing. That stubbornness, that refusal to go quiet, is where my real admiration lives. The craft is extraordinary, but the spine behind it is what makes Rushdie genuinely singular.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Salman Rushdie
- Name (Japanese)
- サルマン・ラシュディ
- Reading
- さるまん・らしゅでぃ
- Born
- June 19, 1947 (age 79)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Boar
- Origin
- Mumbai, Bombay State, India
- Occupation
- writer / novelist / essayist / screenwriter / children's writer
2. Background
- University
- King's College
Awards & achievements
- 1993 Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
- 2014 PEN Pinter Prize
- 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize
- 1981 Booker Prize
- 2008 James Joyce Awards
- 1992 Kurt Tucholsky Prize
- 2015 Gold Medal of the Círculo de Bellas Artes
- 1983 Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | The Satanic Verses | — |
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Salman Rushdie born?
Born June 19, 1947 (age 79).
Where is Salman Rushdie from?
Salman Rushdie is from Mumbai, Bombay State, India.
What does Salman Rushdie do?
Salman Rushdie works as writer, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, children's writer.
What is Salman Rushdie known for?
Notable works include The Satanic Verses.
Writer — see all → · Novelist — see all → · More people from India →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.