HOUSTON: Inprint, Houston’s premier literary arts nonprofit organization, was proud to presentBooker Prize winner Salman Rushdie as part of the 2025/202 6 Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series. Rushdie’s highly anticipated reading, which sold approximately 1,300 tickets, took place on Monday evening, January 12, at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in downtown Houston.
A three-time past author on the Inprint Brown Reading Series and a member of the Inprint National Advisory Council, Rushdie returned to Inprint for the first time in 10 years with The Eleventh Hour, a new collection of five interconnected stories that explore aging, mortality, memory, and identity, set in India, England, and the U.S.
Kirkus Reviews has called The Eleventh Hour a “provocative set of tales” that “celebrate life, language, and love in the face of death.” According to Publishers Weekly, “Grounded in moving ruminations on the afterlife and what a person leaves behind, these stories sing.”
Rushdie read from The Eleventh Hour, including an excerpt from “Late,” his first-ever ghost story. Following his reading, the author sat down for an on-stage interview with fiction writer and University of South Florida assistant professor, Brenda Peynado. Their lively conversation ranged in topics from the themes of death and “unfinished business” in his new book to his literary career, advice for aspiring
writers, and what America means to him, including his views on the current state of the U.S. Additionally, Rushdie’s humor and well-timed witty remarks drew laughter from the engaged audience.
Every attendee received a copy of Rushdie’s The Eleventh Hour, and books were also sold on-site at the event through Brazos Bookstore, who provided a discount to patrons.
Named one of Time’s Most Influential People of the Year in 2023, Salman Rushdie is a globally acclaimed novelist and essayist whose work blends history, myth, politics, and magical realism. The Washington Post calls him “a writer of courage, impressive strength, and sheer stylistic brilliance.”
Born in Bombay, Rushdie rose to international prominence with Midnight’s Children, which won the 1981 Booker Prize and was later named the “Booker of Bookers.” He is the author of 15 novels, including The Satanic Verses, Shame, The Golden House, Quichotte, and Victory City, plus two story collections, two memoirs, and several collections of essays translated into more than 40 languages.
At times a target of violence and debate, Rushdie’s life and work have sparked conversations about freedom of speech. He has received a knighthood for services to literature, served as president of PEN America, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
An online rebroadcast of the Salman Rushdie live event will be available for view beginning Thursday, January 15, 7:30 pm. Tickets for the Inprint Salman Rushdie Online Rebroadcast are on sale now at inprint.org.
