It would be difficult to overemphasise the impact or popularity of Salman Rushdie’s second novel with critics and the general reader alike. From its publication in 1981, Midnight’s Children has become a standard work on university syllabuses and has enjoyed an international readership that catapulted its author almost overnight to the very forefront of world authors. It was awarded the 1981 Booker Prize, the English Speaking Union Literary Award, and in 1993 it was awarded both the James Tait Prize and the Booker of Bookers Prize. (This was an award given out by the Booker committee to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the award.) In 2003 the novel was adapted to the stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and to complement this

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Published 25 January 2005 ; revised 16 July 2008

Citation: Fenwick, Mac. "Midnight’s Children". The Literary Encyclopedia. 25 January 2005.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3591, accessed 20 November 2009.]