Salman Rushdie makes first in-person public appearance since 2022 stabbing: ‘I feel great’
- The Satanic Verses author was in attendance for the annual gala of PEN America on Thursday night
- The author lost sight in one eye from the attack at a literary event in western New York in August
Salman Rushdie has made his first in-person public appearance since being stabbed repeatedly and hospitalised nine months ago.
The author was in attendance Thursday night for the annual gala of PEN America, the literary and free expression organisation for which he once served as president.
“I feel great,” said Rushdie, wearing a dark collarless jacket and matching pants. “I have a long association with PEN America and I’m just happy to be amongst writers and book people.”
Rushdie, 75, attended the gala, where hundreds of writers and other PEN members gathered for the dinner benefit.
Saturday Night Live founder Lorne Michaels and Iranian dissident Narges Mohammadi were among those scheduled to be honoured.
Last August, Rushdie was appearing at the Chautauqua Institution, a non-profit education and retreat centre in western New York, when he was assaulted by a young man dressed in black and carrying a knife.