A live broadcast of the upcoming reading by author Salman Rushdie will be available on a first-come, first-served basis Thursday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. in 233 Plant Science Building. The room is equipped with a wide-screen closed-circuit TV and is being used to accommodate overflow as tickets for the reading held in Uris Auditorium are sold out. No one will be admitted to Uris without a ticket.

Rushdie, one of the most controversial and celebrated writers of our time, is the author of "Midnight's Children" and "The Satanic Verses." The latter was deemed sacrilegious by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa against Rushdie in 1989. While living under constant threat of death, Rushdie continued to write, turning out "The Moor's Last Sigh" and "The Ground Beneath Her Feet." His most recent novel, "Shalimar the Clown," was a nominee for both the Man Booker Prize and the Commonwealth Writer's Prize.

A prolific essayist, Rushdie has written "Step Across This Line: Collected Non-Fiction, 1992-2002," a collection of the author's many provocative pieces. Rushdie is the winner of numerous literary prizes and awards, including the best Booker prize-winning novel of those awarded in the Bookers' first 25 years. In 2007 Rushdie was officially knighted by the Queen of England for services to literature.