Midnight's Children wins Best of Booker

27 years after it was first published, Salman Rushdie’s novel still a favourite among young readers

LONDON: Twenty-seven years after Midnight’s Children was first published, Mumbai-born author Salman Rushdie’s novel based on India’s post-independence events has won a public poll naming it the best of all the Booker prize winning books.
Rushdie, 61, who is on tour in America publicising his latest novel, The Enchantress of Florence, was unable to attend the ceremony at the Southbank Centre in London on Wednesday.

“Marvellous news! I’m absolutely delighted and would like to thank all those readers around the world who voted for Midnight’s Children,” he said in a pre-recorded message. His sons, Zafar and Milan attended the award ceremony to receive the custom-made trophy on his behalf.

The Best of Booker — a one-off prize — was launched to mark the 40th anniversary of the renowned literary award.

All 41 prize winning books since it first started in 1969 were considered for the Best of Booker and, finally, six were shortlisted by a panel of judges. Readers were then asked to vote for their favourite novel from among the shortlist. 7801 votes were recorded via online and SMS with 36 per cent voting for Midnight’s Children. Votes came in from all around the world with 37% of online votes coming from the UK followed closely by 27% of online voters from North America.

At least half of the voters were under 35 with the largest age group ranging between 25-34 years, a reflection of the ongoing interest in quality fiction amongst readers of all ages.

“The readers have spoken — in their thousands. And we do believe that they have made the right choice,” said Victoria Glendinning, biographer, novelist, critic and chair of the panel of judges.

Midnight’s Children had won both the Booker Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1981. It had also won the Booker of Bookers, a celebratory award created to mark the 25th anniversary of the Booker in 1993.

About the author
Birth: Salman Rushdie was born in Mumbai, then Bombay, in June 1947, two months before Indian independence led to the creation of Pakistan
Education: England - Rugby and King’s College, Cambridge
First novel: Grimus, 1975
Fame: Rushdie shot to fame in 1981 when his second novel Midnight’s Children which won the Booker
Controversy: Rushdie’s 1988 novel The Satanic Verses outraged many Muslims over what was perceived to be its questioning of the tenets of Islam. It culminated in a death edict against Rushdie by Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, forcing the author into hiding for nine years
Knighthood: In June 2007. The decision again prompted protests in the Islamic world
Latest work: The Enchantress of Florence, a historical novel set in Renaissance Florence and the court of the Mughal Empire