I don’t mean to brag but many of my favorite writers end up winning big prizes. Bob Dylan won the Pulitzer Prize back in April, and now Salman Rushdie has won the “Best of the Booker” Prize for Midnight’s Children. The Man Booker Prize is Britain’s most prestigious award for literature, which means the “Best of the Booker” Prize is Hall of Fame material. I have good taste in words, my friends.

Rushdie won the Man Booker Prize for the novel back in 1981. This time around, Midnight’s Children won over the panel of judges including biographer, novelist and critic Victoria Glendinning, writer and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, and Professor John Mullan. After making that cut, or the shortlist, the decision rested in the hands of the public. More than 7800 people from around the world voted Rushdie’s book best of the best. For a list of his six competitors on the shortlist, click here.