Sir Salman Rushdie, writer

Dec 21, 2025

Sir Salman Rushdie, a celebrated novelist and advocate for free expression, shares profound insights about the power of imagination in writing. He reminisces about his childhood in Bombay, his father's storytelling, and his education in England, where he encountered challenges and creativity. Rushdie also reflects on the traumatic experience of the fatwa and the 2022 stabbing, highlighting his resilience and recovery. He emphasizes the importance of defending artistic freedom, all while intertwining his love for music, from Lou Reed to Stevie Wonder.

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INSIGHT

Writing As An Act Of Optimism

Writing books is inherently optimistic because you create work you hope will please others.
Salman Rushdie says that alone-room creation requires optimism to persist.

ANECDOTE

Meeting Lou Reed And Missing Algren

Salman recounts befriending Lou Reed and learning the song's Warhol Factory origins.
He almost met Nelson Algren but arrived to find Algren had died at his party.

ANECDOTE

Bombay Beach Days And A Difficult Father

He describes joyful childhood memories at Juhu Beach with camel races and coconuts.
Salman also recalls his father's drinking turning him into 'somebody else'.

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Sir Salman Rushdie is a writer who has written over 20 books, seven of which have been nominated for the Booker Prize. In 1981 he won with his novel Midnight’s Children which also topped the polls for the 25th and 40th anniversaries of the prize, making it the most lauded novel in Booker history.

He was born in Bombay in 1947 and educated at Rugby School in Warwickshire. After studying history at the University of Cambridge he worked as a copywriter at various advertising agencies before publishing his first novel Grimus in 1975. His breakthrough came with Midnight’s Children and he was one of 20 writers named on Granta magazine’s inaugural list of Best Young British novelists alongside writers including Martin Amis and AN Wilson.

He attracted considerable controversy with his fourth novel the Satanic Verses which won the Whitbread Award and was shortlisted for the Booker. Some Muslims considered the subject matter blasphemous and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman and the publishers of the book. Salman spent the following decade in hiding under police protection.

In 2022 he was stabbed multiple times while on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. He had been invited there to talk about keeping writers safe from harm. He survived devasting injuries – including the loss of his right eye – and wrote about the attack and its aftermath in his memoir Knife.

That same year he was awarded a Companion of Honour for services to literature.

Salman is married to the poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths and they live in New York. He has two grown up sons and two grandchildren.

DISC ONE: Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed DISC TWO: Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan - Mohammed Rafi and Geeta Dutt DISC THREE: Blowin’ in the Wind - Bob Dylan DISC FOUR: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones DISC FIVE: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston DISC SIX: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Paul Simon DISC SEVEN: Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder DISC EIGHT: For the Love of You, Pts. 1 & 2 - The Isley Brothers

BOOK CHOICE: Homer’s Odyssey (Translated by Emily Wilson) LUXURY ITEM: A bed with a mosquito net CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: For the Love of You, Pts. 1 & 2 - The Isley Brothers

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley