On the steps of the majestic Public Library of Manhattan, more than ten well-known authors spoke, among whom were people from his close circle.
Some of America’s most famous writers, including Paul Auster and Gay Tallis, gathered on Friday to read excerpts from works by Salman Rushdie, expressing their solidarity with the 75-year-old author who was the victim of a murderous attack last week.
Join us Friday August 19:
One week after the brutal attack on the author @SalmanRushdiethe NY literary community is rallying in solidarity and presenting public readings from Rushdie’s works on the steps of @nypl on 5th Avenue.#StandWithSalman. Details: https://t.co/KnAChMITce pic.twitter.com/l6M55aasHr
— PEN America (@PENamerica) August 19, 2022
On the steps of the majestic Public Library of Manhattan, more than ten well-known authors spoke, among whom were people from his close circle. Salman Rushdie was invited to watch the event online from his hospital room.
On August 12, the author of The Satanic Verses was scheduled to speak at a Chotokwa Foundation event in New York when a man rushed the stage and stabbed him multiple times in the neck and abdomen.
He was airlifted to a hospital and after undergoing surgery, had to be mechanically assisted until his condition improved.
Author and journalist Gay Tallis, wearing his favorite fedora hat, read an extract from the novel ‘The Golden House’, while Irish author Colum McCann chose an extract from the essay ‘Out of Kansas’ published by Salman Rushdie in New Yorker magazine in 1992.
Mr. Rushdie had “always risen to the occasion,” McCann said, adding that he “will have something profound to say” once he recovers.
“Satanic Verses”
Salman Rushdie ignited fires in the Muslim world with his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, which was branded “blasphemous” and Iran’s then-supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a religious decree (fatfa) calling for his assassination.
The writer of Indian origin was forced to live for years as a hunted and under the protection of the police.
Harry Kunzrou, a British writer and journalist, read a passage from the beginning of the book that radically changed Salman Rushdie’s life. “Salman once wrote that the role of a writer is to name the unspeakable, show the crooks, take a stand, start conversations, shape the world and wake it up,” he said. “That’s why we’re here,” he emphasized.
“Hero with a heavy price”
Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old Lebanese-American who was arrested shortly after the Rushdie attack, pleaded not guilty in court on Thursday to the charges brought against him.
“Not even a blade to the throat could silence Salman Rushdie,” said Suzanne Nossel, president of PEN America.
Before reading a passage in turn, British author Tina Brown said to Salman Rushdie: “You never asked to be a hero. You just wanted to write. But the tenacity with which you defended freedom of expression made you a hero and you paid a heavy price.”
For author and historian Amanda Forman, Friday’s event showed that “we are all ready to stand up for what we believe.”
Salman Rushdie, born in 1947 in India to Muslim parents, lived in New York for 20 years and became an American citizen in 2016.
Despite the threats against him, he appeared more and more often in public, without apparent protection, while he continued to defend satire and irreverence in his books. In an interview he gave to the German magazine Stern a few days before the murderous attack he received, he appeared optimistic and declared: “Since I came to the United States, I no longer have problems… My life is back to normal.”
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