Salman Rushdie: Public reading in New York to show solidarity with writer

James Callery

Hundreds of writers will gather to read Salman Rushdie’s works in New York this week in an act of defiance against the fatwa declared over his book The Satanic Verses. The event is a recreation of a similar public reading of Rushdie’s books that was held a few days after the order to kill him was issued in 1989 by the cleric Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s supreme leader at the time.

Among the authors taking part will be Paul Auster, Tina Brown, Kiran Desai, Amanda Foreman, AM Homes, Siri Hustvedt, Hari Kunzru and Gay Talese.

The “Stand with Salman” event will be held on the steps of the New York Public Library on Friday morning. The 1989 event was attended by more than 3,000 people.Rushdie, 75, was stabbed at an event last Friday at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York, where he had been due to speak about freedom of speech and how the US is a haven for persecuted writers.

The moderator of the event, who suffered a head injury during the attack, hopes to return to the venue one day to interview Rushdie again. Henry Reese, who still has severe bruising to his face, said the incident highlighted more than ever the values the novelist stands for.

Reese told the BBC: “I’m doing well, everything is proceeding — I’m doing quite well. I think our concern is for Salman, and I mean that for himself, but also what he means in the world.”

Asked what the incident meant for the importance of Rushdie’s values, Reese added: “There couldn’t be anything more vivid in its materialisation of our values. Our mission is to protect writers who are in sanctuary and to see Salman Rushdie assaulted for his life is unimaginably... it’s hard to describe what it is to see that happen in front of you.”

Rushdie suffered severe, life-changing injuries after being stabbed several times. His family said that his “usual feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact” as they revealed the extent of his injuries.Downing Street has dismissed as “ludicrous” a suggestion from Iran that Rushdie might be in any way responsible for the attack. An Iranian government official denied on Monday that Tehran was involved in the attack on the author, adding: “We do not consider anyone other than Salman Rushdie and his supporters worthy of blame.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/salman-rushdie-interviewer-reveals-injuries-from-attack-jp8xbbb6d