Sir Salman Rushdie, born in Bombay in 1947, is a British-Indian writer of fiction, short stories, non-fiction and drama. Famous for having a fatwa pronounced against him by Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran in 1989 after the publication of Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses," he lived in protected hiding for 10 years until the Iranian government withdrew its backing to the fatwa in 1999. Rushdie, who first career was as an advertising copywriter, won the Booker prize in 1981 for his second novel, "Midnight's Children." Salman Rushdie writes stories with characters from the Indian subcontinent and explore the role of religion in society and conflict between religions, mixing in fantasy and magic. Other titles include "The Moor's Last Sigh," "Fury" and "The Enchantress of Florence." He has also written two children's books, "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" and "Luka and the Fire of Life."