I’ve recovered from attack and am writing again, Salman Rushdie reveals

Salman Rushdie says he has resumed working nine months after being repeatedly stabbed by an alleged Islamic extremist.

Salman Rushdie after being appointed as a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour at Windsor Castle on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

Sir Salman Rushdie is writing again, nine months after he was repeatedly stabbed by an alleged Islamic extremist.

The novelist, who was formally invested as a Companion of Honour at Windsor Castle yesterday, said that it had taken “a while” but he was working again. Asked when he expected to complete his next book, he said: “Oh, I’ll let you know.”

Speaking after the ceremony, at which Rushdie met the Princess Royal, he said it was a “great honour” to be recognised for a “lifetime” of work and described Anne as “very generous”.

Rushdie, 75, has been subjected to death threats and attempts on his life since the publication of his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.

The book, inspired by the life of the prophet Muhammad, prompted Ayatollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of Iran at the time of the book’s publication, to call for Rushdie’s death.

Reflecting on the attack on stage at an event in New York State in August, which cost him the sight in one eye, Rushdie said: “I am pretty well recovered, which is why I’m able to be here. I had to wait a while.”

A suspect is awaiting trial charged with attempted murder, which he denies.

Speaking at the British Book Awards last week, Rushdie said freedom of expression in the West was at a critical juncture.

Hadi Matar, the man accused in the attempted murder of Salman Rushdie, appears in court in August. Picture: AFP

“Now I am sitting here in the US, I have to look at the extraordinary attack on libraries, and books for children in schools,” he said.

“The attack on the idea of libraries themselves. It is quite remarkably alarming, and we need to be very aware of it, and to fight against it very hard.”

Rushdie also criticised the rewriting of older books to remove language deemed offensive, saying that books should “come to us from their time and be of their time”.

Rushdie was appointed a Companion of Honour. Membership of the order is limited to 65 people at any time and is awarded for contributions to the arts, science, medicine or government.

Rushdie is seen being loaded onto a medical evacuation helicopter near the Chautauqua Institution after being stabbed in the neck. Picture: AFP

The Times