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Salman Rushdie will receive a National Book Award medal for lifetime achievement

The National Book Foundation announced that Author Salman Rushdie will receive the medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, making the 79-year-old the 39th recipient of the prestigious National Book Award.
Rushdie is only the fourth winner born outside the U.S., joining Canada native Saul Bellow and Isabel Allende of Chile. The foundation will also honor pediatrician-literacy activist Perri Klass with the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community.
Ruth Dickey, the foundation's executive director, praised Rushdie's "sweeping body of work" in a statement Thursday. He has published more than 20 books, including the Booker Prize-winning "Midnight's Children" and the 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses."
Following a 2022 stabbing that resulted in the conviction of assailant Hadi Matar, the New York City-based author persisted in his work despite the 1988 fatwa from Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Longtime friend and author Kiran Desai will present the medal to Rushdie at the National Book Awards ceremony in Manhattan on Nov. 18, when prizes in five competitive categories will be handed out.

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