Salman Rushdie

The acclaimed, controversial author Salman Rushdie is in conversation with Ramona Koval, one of Australia's eminent literary figures. The fatwa placed on Salman Rushdie following publication of The Satanic Verses in 1988 now seems like an early warning of things to come. His new novel Shalimar The Clown is set in the troubled region of Kashmir, and in no way avoids the important matters that have been swirling around Salman Rushdie since he found himself the focus of fundamentalist extremism: terrorism, obsession, violence and war. Rushdie talks about why he still confronts these issues in his writing, and what he has drawn on from his own very particular experiences for this new novel. And, on a lighter note, why Bollywood films are like Shakespeare plays, and how both have influenced his writing.