Which author won the 1981 Booker Prize for 'Midnight's Children'?

Salman Rushdie won the 1981 Booker Prize for Midnight’s Children. His second novel follows Saleem Sinai, who is born at the exact moment India achieves independence at midnight on 15 August 1947.

The novel blends fictional characters with real historical events, including Indian independence, Partition and the political upheavals that followed. Saleem and the other children born during the first hour of independence are connected by extraordinary abilities, allowing Rushdie to turn the birth of a nation into a fantastical family saga. This combination of history, satire and magical realism became one of the book’s defining features.

Midnight’s Children was widely praised for its inventive style and its portrayal of postcolonial India. It later received two retrospective honours: the Booker of Bookers in 1993 and the Best of the Booker in 2008, both recognising it as an outstanding winner in the prize’s history.

The 1981 award is sometimes confused with Rushdie’s later Booker-shortlisted novels, including Shame and The Satanic Verses. Neither won the prize.