2. Who is Salman Rushdie ?

3. Biographical Information Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay, India in 1947 He went to college in Cambridge, England and stayed in England to start a career in advertising He became a full-time writer when he published his first book in 1975 His first successful book was called Midnight’s Children and came out in 1980

4. Rushdie has written many books Grimus (1975) Midnight's Children (1980) Shame (1983) The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey (1987) The Satanic Verses (1989) Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990)

5. Many, Many Books East, West (1994) The Moor's Last Sigh (1995) The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999) Fury (2001) Step Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992- 2002 (2002) Shalimar the Clown (2005)

6. Rushdie’s greatest challenge… The publication of The Satanic Verses in 1989 caused a HUGE controversy Many people found Rushdie’s depiction of the prophet Muhammad--a very important figure in Islam--to be disrespectful When Rushdie refused to apologize, many took actions against him…

7. India BANNED the book Selling it was illegal Even owning a copy was against the law Many copies were burned publicly

8. These countries also banned it: South Africa Pakistan Bangladesh Egypt Saudi Arabia Indonesia Somalia Sudan

9. But the biggest reaction came from Iran…

10. Iran issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie A fatwa is a religious order from one of the Muslim clerics who are in charge in many Middle Eastern countries. The order against Rushdie claimed that his blasphemy in The Satanic Verses was worthy of execution. A $3 million bounty was placed on his head.

11. Rushdie went to the British government for protection While in England, he continued to write. Perhaps in response to the fatwa, he wrote a children’s book. On the surface, at least, this was a non-controversial idea. Haroun and the Sea of Stories deals with the danger of storytelling, though. And this is a concept that Rushdie knows better than most.

12. Rushdie is unquestionably a tremendous writer. His awards include the Booker Prize for best novel of the year (Midnight’s Children) and the Writer’s Guild Award for Best Children’s Book (Haroun and the Sea of Stories) He now lives in New York City with his fourth wife. He remains an active writer and critic.