Salman Rushdie is a storyteller. So when you ask him to describe the day, in 2022, when he was attacked and nearly killed by a young man with a knife, Rushdie paints a vivid picture.
Rushdie, whose attendance had not been announced beforehand, spoke briefly, and dedicated some of his remarks to those who came to his help last August while on stage at a New York literary festival.
Rushdie submitted the final edits for his 15th novel before he was stabbed onstage in August 2022. It tells the story of a sorceress and poet who dreams a civilization into existence from magic seeds.
Writers Jeffrey Eugenides, Roya Hakakian, Kiran Desai, Tina Brown, Gay Talese and others gave live readings from the author's work as he recovered from a brutal attack.
The Chautauqua County district attorney said that Hadi Matar stabbed the author a dozen times in the neck, stomach, chest, hand and right eye, before he could be stopped by shocked bystanders.
A 24-year-old New Jersey man pleaded not guilty after being charged with attempted murder in Friday's attack in Chautauqua, N.Y. The author underwent surgery, his agent said.
