Author Salman Rushdie, victim of an attempted murder earlier this year, is among the favorites to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, the ceremony for which will take place this Thursday.
Posted at 6:11 p.m.
According to betting site Nicer Odds, which compares several bookmakers, the lowest odds in favor of Rushdie were 13/2 on Tuesday afternoon. If he wins, the 75-year-old British-American author would be the first Indian-born writer to win the Nobel since poet Rabindranath Tagore, who was honored in 1913.
Salman Rushdie, still under the effect of a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini following the publication of his controversial book satanic verses, in 1988, was the victim of a stabbing attack last August in New York while he was reading in public. His assailant, Hadi Matar, 24, was charged with attempted murder and assault.
The prestigious prize, associated with a blunder of one million pounds, is awarded by The Swedish Academy, a group of 18 people made up of authors, linguists, teachers of literature, historians and a jurist from fame.