#228: Salman Rushdie, novelist

#228: Salman Rushdie, novelist

From Always Take Notes by Always Take Notes

December 23, 2025 · 1h 11m

About this episode

Simon and Rachel speak to novelist Salman Rushdie about his writing journey, experiences under a fatwa, and his new collection of stories.

Simon and Rachel speak to the novelist Salman Rushdie, whose 17 works of fiction have been translated into over 40 languages. Salman's novels include include "Midnight’s Children" – for which he won the Booker Prize in 1981, the Booker of Bookers on the 25th anniversary of the prize, and Best of the Booker on the 40th anniversary – "Shame", "The Satanic Verses" and "The Ground Beneath her Feet". He has also written five works of non-fiction, including a memoir, "Joseph Anton", about living under a fatwa imposed in 1989 by Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini in response to "The Satanic Verses", and "Knife", his meditation after he was attacked on stage while giving a lecture in the US in 2022. We spoke to Salman about returning to writing after the 2022 attack, his earlier experience living under the fatwa, and his new collection of stories, "The Eleventh Hour". In addition to the standard audio format, the podcast is now available in video. You can check us out on YouTube under Always Take Notes. We’ve made another update for those ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠who support the podcast on the crowdfunding site Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. We’ve added 40 pages of new material to the package of successful article…

People in this episode

Hosts: Simon, Rachel

Guest: Salman Rushdie

Topics covered

  • novel
  • writing
  • memoir
  • fatwa
  • literature

Keywords

  • Midnight’s Children
  • Booker Prize
  • The Satanic Verses
  • Joseph Anton
  • The Eleventh Hour

Mentioned in this episode

Products: YouTube, Patreon

Books & works: Midnight’s Children, the Booker Prize, the Booker of Bookers, Shame, The Satanic Verses, The Ground Beneath her Feet, Joseph Anton, Knife, The Eleventh Hour, Always Take Notes

Places: US

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