Salman Rushdie

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie, born in Bombay (now Mumbai) on June 19, 1947, is a British novelist and essayist whose writing is characterized by examining the links and pitfalls between Eastern and Western cultures. He achieved worldwide recognition in 1981 with his second novel, Midnight's Children. But his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, not only cemented his name into the world's literary landscape but also caused a violent uproar across the Muslim world, resulting in Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa calling for his death. Rushdie spent most of the next decade in hiding, making only occasional appearances including a brief yet memorable on-and-off on a London taping of Late Night with David Letterman on May 20th, 1995. Though the fatwa against him technically is still in effect today, Rushdie dismisses it as "rhetoric" rather than a legitimate threat.

In June 2007, he received a knighthood for his services to literature. That same year he also began a five-year term at Emory University as Distinguished Writer in Residence. Rushdie has been married four times, most recently to the Indian actress and model Padma Lakshmi. they divorced on July 2, 2007.

His other works include Grimus, East West, The Moor's Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Shalimar the Clown, and The Enchantress of Florence.