Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories

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Published in 1990,

Haroun and the Sea of Stories

is both the first novel that Salman Rushdie wrote for children and the first novel that he wrote during what has come to be known as the “Rushdie Affair”. In 1989, following the publication of Rushdie’s novel

The Satanic Verses

the previous year, Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a

fatwa

, calling upon Muslims around the world to kill Rushdie on account of that novel’s supposed blasphemy. As a result, Rushdie spent a decade in hiding, and it was in the early stages of this period that he wrote

Haroun

. Asked in an interview with Blake Morrison in 1990 whether

Haroun

was “anything to do with [his] situation now”, Rushdie responded “Heavens, no, that’s the kind of silly thing people invent when they know nothing. I’ve had the…

2555 words

Citation: Perfect, Michael. "Haroun and the Sea of Stories". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4853, accessed 29 March 2024.]

4853 Haroun and the Sea of Stories 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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