Salman Rushdie to return to India for his next novel

Salman Rushdie’s next novel is likely to be set entirely in India and for that, he may return for a while to the country of his birth, the celebrated British-American author revealed at the Times Lit Fest on Sunday.

“The last ten years I have mostly written these western-based novels, these novels mostly based in America, a little bit of England. I think it might be time to come back to India. I think the next book appears to be an Indian novel,” Rushdie said during a virtual conversation.

This was the first appearance of the Booker Prize-winning author at an Indian litfest since his withdrawal from the Jaipur Fest amid a row in 2012.

“It is in a very early stage, so let me get a little further. But it looks like it will be entirely set in India, which means I have to come to India. It has been very long,” he added.

The author last visited India for the promotion of acclaimed filmmaker Deepa Mehta's 2013 film Midnight's Children, which was based on his Booker Prize-winning book of the same name.

Talking about coming back to India, the author said, “The last time I was in Mumbai was more than seven years ago. Sometimes it is made quite difficult for me to come to India and that can be off-putting. Either because of religious objections or being engulfed in security operations. You cannot go have coffee with friends at Colaba Causeway if you are accompanied by an army of men with guns! So, it just became difficult for me and it is sad because it matters a lot to me. I’ll be back, I'll be back. Let the world open up a little bit,” he concluded.