Sir Salman Rushdie has found 'closure' after knife attack

Wales Online

02-06-2025

Sir Salman Rushdie has found 'closure' after knife attack
The 77-year-old author was left critically injured after he was stabbed repeatedly onstage just moments before he was due to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York state in August 2022
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Sir Salman Rushdie is "over" the knife attack which almost killed him because he's found "closure".
The 77-year-old author was left critically injured after he was stabbed repeatedly onstage just moments before he was due to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York state in August 2022 and he suffered life-changing injuries including the loss of an eye - but Rushdie is adamant he just wants to move on with his life and stop talking about the horrifying incident.
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During an appearance at the Hay Festival in Wales over the weekend, Rushdie told the audience: "[I am feeling] excellent ... this is as good as it gets ...
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"[There are] bits of me that I'm annoyed about, not having a right eye is annoying ... but on the whole I've been fortunate and I'm better than maybe I would have expected."
Hadi Matar, 27, is serving 25 years behind bars after being convicted of attempted murder and assault following a trial which concluded in February, while Rushdie wrote about his experiences in his book 'Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder' - and he's adamant he wants put the incident behind him now.
He said: "I'm glad that trial is over and done with. And that he got the maximum sentence. The closure was more finishing writing about it ...
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"Ever since the attack, really, the only thing anybody's wanted to talk to me about is the attack. And I'm over it. It will be nice to have stories to talk about.
"When I wanted to be a writer, it never occurred to me that I would write about myself. That seemed like the most uninteresting thing of all. I wanted to make stuff up."
The novelist was airlifted to hospital after the attack and underwent eight hours of surgery.
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He lost an eye and suffered multiple stab wounds to areas of his face, neck, chest and hand, remaining under the care of doctors for 18 days before starting three weeks of rehabilitation treatment.
Rushdie previously revealed he leaned on a therapist to help him write about the near-fatal stabbing - explaining it was the first book he's ever needed help writing.
Speaking at a question-and-answer session at an English PEN event at the Southbank Centre in London, Rushdie explained: "[It is the] only book I've ever written with the help of a therapist.
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"It gave me back control of the narrative. Instead of being a man lying on the stage with a pool of blood, I'm a man writing a book about a man live on stage with a pool of blood. That felt good."
However, he still found it tough to describe the incident that almost claimed his life.
He said: "'The first chapter] in which I have to describe in some detail the exact nature of the attack. It was very hard to do."