Public reading of Rushdie’s work in New York

(New York) Figures from the American literary world, such as writers Paul Auster and Gay Talese, gathered in New York on Friday for a public reading of the work of Salman Rushdie, in support of the British author who was stabbed last week .

More than a dozen high-profile writers, including friends and colleagues of Mr. Rushdie, spoke on the steps of Manhattan’s grand public library. The author was invited to follow the event online from his hospital room.

On August 12, the author of satanic verses was stabbed several times, including in the neck and abdomen in the small town of Chautauqua, New York, the site of an annual literary festival. He had been evacuated by helicopter to a hospital and had to be briefly placed on a ventilator before his condition improved.

Gay Talese, wearing his traditional hat, read an excerpt from the novel The Golden Housewhile Irish writer Colum McCann recited a passage from the essay Out of Kansaspublished by Salman Rushdie in the journal New Yorker in 1992.

Mr. Rushdie “has always risen to the occasion,” Mr. McCann said. “I think he will have something profound to say,” once he recovers, he continued.

Salman Rushdie set part of the Islamic world ablaze with the publication of satanic verses in 1988, leading Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa calling for his assassination.

The author of fifteen novels, stories for young people, short stories and essays written in English had been forced to live in hiding and under police protection, going from hiding place to hiding place.

Arrested immediately after the incident, Mr Rushdie’s attacker, Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old Lebanese American, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault on Thursday in a first appearance after being charged by a grand jury.

“Not even a blade through the throat could silence the voice of Salman Rushdie,” said Suzanne Nossel, president of the association for the defense of writers around the world, PEN America, who initiated the rally, on Friday.