India-born famous author Salman Rushdie was stabbed by an unknown man while he was being introduced at an event of the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York on Friday, August 12. The 75-year-old was getting ready to deliver a lecture on the stage when the attacker rushed toward him and began to hit/stab him.

Rushdie fell to the floor and his attacker was soon restrained by the audience, who also rushed to the stage. Medical treatments were administered to the author on stage, however, a witness told PTI that he had witnessed blood on Rushdie’s body. 

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While Rushdie remains one of the most famous authors of his generation, his fourth book, The Satanic Verses forced him into hiding for several years. The book has been banned in Iran since 1988 when it was released. The next year, Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa on him, calling for his head. The country also set a $3 million bounty on him. However, he has written many books in his long career and has been a recipient of many awards too. Let’s take a look at Salman Rushdie’s best literary works and his awards.

Best literary works

Midnight’s Child (1981)

While it was Rushdie’s second book, it was the one that elevated the author to the limelight. Midnight’s Child helped him to win the Booker Prize in 1981. He was later awarded the Best of the Bookers as the best novel in 1993 and 2008.

Midnight’s Children portrays the life of a child, who was born at midnight as India gained its independence. The story also includes a character named Saleem Bhai, who has been compared with Salman Rushdie himself, however, the author denied the notion.

Shame (1983)

Rushdie’s third book of his career. It is based on the political instability in Pakistan. The author won France’s Best Foreign Book award with this book. Shame was also a runner-up for the Booker Prize that year. 

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The Satanic Verses (1988)

His most controversial yet most famous work. The Satanic Verses was released on 1988 and was soon criticised heavily by the majority of the Islamic world. The book has been banned in Iran since 1988 and the country’s Late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa for his death. It was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

Rushdie received death threats for years for The Satanic Verses.

The Moor’s Last Sigh (1995)

Another book that became shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It is also the fifth novel of his career and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1995.

Quichotte (2019)

One of Salman Rushdie’s most recent books, Quichotte is the author’s 14th novel which was inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’s 17th-century novel named Don Quixote.   

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Awards:

Salman Rushdie was knighted for his years of services to literature on the Queen’s birthday on June 16, 2007. He was also appointed as a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the Queen’s birthday awards in 2022.

Apart from that, he has won several awards in his life. His list of awards includes State Prize for Literature (Austria), PEN Pinter Prize (UK), Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Cultural Humanism (Harvard University), Swiss Freethinkers Award 2019, the Booker Prize and Golden PEN Award among others.