Acclaimed director Deepa Mehta (Water) will turn Sir Salman Rushdie's novel about India's independence, Midnight's Children, into a feature film, slated for a 2010 completion.
"In literature," Mehta says, "there are only a handful of characters that remain indelible in my mind. On top of my list is Saleem, the protagonist of … Midnight's Children."
In July of this year, Midnight's Children was voted by fans around the world as the best book to win the Booker in the prize's first 40 years.
"Two thirds of the voters were very, very young," notes Rushdie, who published the book in 1981. "They were under 30 and they still found the book relevant to their times."
Rushie is scheduled to speak in the Bryan Series Feb. 10.
Salman Rushdie will discuss The Enchantress of Florence,
Sunday, Nov. 16, at the Miami Book Fair International. The program is
scheduled to be broadcast live on Book TV, which airs each weekend on
C-SPAN2.
Rushdie will be in conversation about his latest book with author Nathan Englander, who teaches at Hunter College in New York. The program is on the last night of the 25th annual festival.
Rushdie will speak in the Bryan Series Feb. 10.
For more information about the Miami Book Fair, click here, and for more about Book TV, click here.
Salman Rushdie is scheduled to discuss his latest book, The Enchantress of Florence, on the public radio program "Here and Now" Friday, July 25. The program airs at Noon on WFDD-FM (88.5) locally.
Rushdie will appear in the Bryan Series Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009. A limited number of season passes remain for 2008-09, and may be purchased at the Greensboro Coliseum Advance Box Office, online at http://www.guilford.edu/bryanseries or by calling 336-218-5550.
For more information about the program, click here.
Salman Rushdie was named winner of the Best of the Booker Award for Midnight's Children July 10. Midnight's Children
won the Booker Prize in 1981 and was chosen as the Booker of Bookers in
1993 -- the only other time a celebratory prize has been awarded.
The Best of the Booker shortlist was selected by a panel of judges and a public poll. When voting closed July 8, more than 7,800 people had voted for the six shortlisted titles, with 36% voting for Midnight's Children. Thirty-seven percent of online votes were from the UK, followed by 27% from North America.
Rushdie, on tour in America with his latest novel, The Enchantress of Florence, sent his thanks via a pre-recorded message. His sons, Zafar and Milan, were in attendance at the award ceremony at the Southbank Centre.
Queen Elizabeth II conferred a knighthood
on Salman Rushdie during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace
June 25. The knighthood had been announced last year. Rushdie is
scheduled to speak in the Bryan Series Feb. 10, 2009.
Rushdie published his first novel, Grimus, in 1975. Success came with his next book, Midnight's Children, which won the prestigious Booker Prize in 1981. The Satanic Verses was published in 1988, and some Muslims accused him of blasphemy in the book. His latest novel, The Enchantress of Florence, was released in the U.S. in May.
“I think the thing you hope to do as a writer is leave behind a shelf of interesting books and it’s great just to have that work recognized," Rushdie told reporters at the palace.
The latest novel by Salman Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence, is scheduled for release May 27, according to Random House.
The Enchantress of Florence is the story of a woman attempting to command her own destiny in a man’s world. It is the story of two cities, unknown to each other, at the height of their powers.
An online description of the book stated, "Vivid, gripping, irreverent, bawdy, profoundly moving, and completely absorbing, The Enchantress of Florence is a dazzling book full of wonders by one of the world’s most important living writers."
Rushdie, who authored Midnight's Children, The Satanic Verses and other novels, is scheduled to speak in the Bryan Series Feb. 10, 2009.
Anna Deavere Smith
Feb. 28, 2010
