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Salman Rushdie Facts & Worksheets

Salman Rushdie is an Indian-born British writer whose allegorical novels examine historical and philosophical issues by means of surreal characters, brooding humour, and an effusive and melodramatic prose style.

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Salman Rushdie is an Indian-born British writer whose allegorical novels examine historical and philosophical issues by means of surreal characters, brooding humor, and an effusive and melodramatic prose style. His treatment of sensitive religious and political subjects made him a controversial figure.

See the fact file below for more information on the Salman Rushdie or alternatively, you can download our 21-page Salman Rushdie worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Birth and Education

  • Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie was born June 19, 1947, in Bombay (now Mumbai), India as the only son of a wealthy Indian businessman and a school teacher.
  • Young Rushdie studied at a private school in Bombay before moving to The Rugby School, a boarding school in Warwickshire, England.
  • Salman went on to attend King’s College at the University of Cambridge, where he studied history. After earning his M.A. from Cambridge, Rushdie briefly lived with his family in Pakistan, where his parents had moved in 1964.
  • There, he found work as a television writer but soon returned to England, where for much of the 1970s he worked as a copywriter for an advertising agency.
  • While Rushdie would later become a target of Muslim extremists, the religion was very much a part of his upbringing. His grandfather, a kind man and family doctor, was a devout Muslim, who said his prayers five times a day and went to Hajj to Mecca. But his grandfather’s embrace of the religion was not shrouded in intolerance, something that greatly shaped the young Rushdie.

Literary Career

  • In 1975 Rushdie published his first book, Grimus, a fantasy and science fiction novel that received tepid reviews. Undeterred by the response, Rushdie kept writing; his second work, Midnight’s Children, proved life changing.
  • Published in 1981, the book, which tells the story of India’s complicated history through a pickle-factory worker named Saleem Sinai, was a critical and commercial success.
  • The book was awarded the Booker Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction). In 1993 and 2008, it was awarded the “Best of the Bookers,” a distinction that made it the best novel to have won a Booker Prize for Fiction in the award’s 25 and later 40-year history.
  • Rushdie’s follow-up, 1983’s Shame won the French literary prize, Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, further cementing Rushdie’s place among literature’s upper echelon.

Controversial Success

  • In 1988 Rushdie published The Satanic Verses, a novel drenched in magical realism and whose main story was inspired in part by the life of Muhammad. Critics adored it and the book won the Whitbread Award for novel of the year and was a finalist for the Booker Prize.
  • But it also drew immediate condemnation from the Islamic world for what was perceived to be its irreverent account of Muhammad.
  • In many countries with large Muslim populations, the novel was banned. On February 14, 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran, issued a fatwa requiring the author’s execution. A bounty was offered for Rushdie’s death and for a number of years the writer was forced to live under police protection.
  • To try and dial back the outrage, Rushdie issued a public apology and voiced his support for Islam. The heat around The Satanic Verses eventually cooled and in 1998, Iran declared it would not support the fatwa.
  • In 2012, Rushdie published Joseph Anton: A Memoir, an autobiographical account of what life was like for him during the decade-long fatwa.

Recent Years

  • Even at the height of controversy surrounding his famous novel, Rushdie continued to write. In all, he has written 11 novels, as well as a pair of children’s books and published several collections of essays and works of nonfiction.
  • Rushdie’s 12th novel, Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights was published in September, 2015. Overall, his books have been translated into more than 40 languages.
  • In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II knighted him for his services to Literature. In 2014 Rushdie was awarded the PEN/Pinter Prize, established in memory of the late Nobel-Laureate playwright Harold Pinter, honoring British writers for their body of work.

Salman Rushdie Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Salman Rushdie across 21 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Salman Rushdie worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Salman Rushdie who is an Indian-born British writer whose allegorical novels examine historical and philosophical issues by means of surreal characters, brooding humour, and an effusive and melodramatic prose style. His treatment of sensitive religious and political subjects made him a controversial figure.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Authors Online
  • Library Hunt
  • Judge by the Cover
  • Salman Speaks
  • Band of Banned Authors
  • The Sad City
  • Banned Fiction
  • Fairytale Mix Up
  • One-on-One
  • Salman Survives

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Use With Any Curriculum

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