Salman Rushdie stabbed on stage in New York

Booker Prize-winning author Salman Rushdie has suffered serious injuries after being stabbed on stage at a literary event held in upstate New York on Friday (12th August).

His agent Andrew Wylie said in a statement that the author risked losing an eye as a result of the attack, and that he had sustained damage to his liver and the nerves of one arm. Following surgery in hospital, Rushdie was on a ventilator, Wylie said. Rushdie’s condition has since improved, with the author coming off the ventilator. 

The Satanic Verses author, 75, was being introduced at an event at the Chautauqua Institution at the time of the attack, with witnesses describing seeing a man rush on stage and either "punch or stab" Rushdie multiple times. Authorities later confirmed Rushdie was stabbed at least once in the neck and chest and had been airlifted to hospital.

New York State Police said the attack happened at around 11am local time on 12th August, when a man attacked both Rushdie and his interviewer Henry Reese. The 73-year-old interviewer suffered a minor head injury. Staff and members of the audience rushed up on to the stage and brought the man to the ground, police said.

His alleged attacker was taken into custody by a state trooper assigned to the event, and the suspect has been named as Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old from New Jersey.

Matar has since been charged with attempted murder but entered a not guilty plea.

Markus Dohle, c.e.o. of Rushdie’s publisher Penguin Random House, said: "We are deeply shocked and appalled to hear of the attack on Salman Rushdie while he was speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. We condemn this violent public assault, and our thoughts are with Salman and his family at this distressing time."

Since 1988 Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses (Viking) has been banned in Iran on religious grounds. In 1989, Iran’s late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death. A bounty of over $3m has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.

Rushdie was scheduled to sit down to talk with Reese, co-founder and president of City of Asylum in Pittsburgh, founded in 2004 to provide sanctuary in Pittsburgh to writers exiled under threat of persecution, as part of a summer lecture series being held by the Chautauqua Institution looking at "redefining the American home" in the 21st century.  

Following the attack, English PEN tweeted: "We are appalled by the news that award-winning author and PEN member Salman Rushdie has been attacked onstage in New York. We join PEN centres around the world in condemning the attack, and wish him a full and fast recovery."

Index on Censorship chief executive Ruth Smeeth said on the social media site "there are no words to describe this horror", calling the author "a brave man who will not be silenced". She said: "Our thoughts and prayers for a positive outcome are with him and his family."