Latest news with #Rushdie
Perth Now
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Sir Salman Rushdie has found 'closure' after knife attack
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. 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 ... "[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 ... "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. 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. "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."
NDTV
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Salman Rushdie Says He's "Pleased" Attacker Got Maximum 25-Year Sentence
Quick Read Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed. Sir Salman Rushdie is pleased with the 25-year sentence for his attacker. Hadi Matar, Rushdie's assailant, was convicted of attempted murder and assault. Rushdie was stabbed multiple times, leaving him blind in one eye. Booker Prize-winning author Sir Salman Rushdie has said he is "pleased" that the man who brutally attacked him on stage in 2022 has been handed the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. The 77-year-old Indian-born British author was stabbed multiple times during an event at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, leaving him blind in one eye. Rushdie testified at the 2025 trial of Hadi Matar, a US citizen who was convicted of attempted murder and assault earlier this year. Matar was sentenced to 25 years for the attack on Rushdie and an additional seven years for injuring another man who was on stage at the time. Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Monday, Rushdie said, "I was pleased that he got the maximum available, and I hope he uses it to reflect upon his deeds." "AI Could Imagine a Conversation Better Than Reality" Rushdie also spoke about working with the late BBC producer Alan Yentob on a unique 2024 documentary, which used artificial intelligence to simulate a fictional conversation between the author and his attacker - a concept inspired by Rushdie's memoir Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder. "I thought if I was to really meet him and ask questions, I wouldn't get very much out of him... So I thought, I could open that conversation myself - probably better than a real one would go," Rushdie said, referring to the AI-generated dialogue. He added that the animation was "very startling" and "certainly made a point". Remembering Alan Yentob Rushdie paid tribute to Alan Yentob, who passed away on Saturday, calling him an "unbelievable champion of the arts" and "a giant of British media". "He will be remembered as a maker of great programmes and an enabler of great programmes as well," Rushdie said.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Rushdie 'pleased' with his attacker's maximum jail term
LONDON: Salman Rushdie said Monday he was "pleased" with the maximum 25-year jail sentence handed to a man who tried to kill him with a knife at a New York cultural centre in 2022. "I was pleased that he got the maximum available, and hopefully he uses it to reflect upon his deeds," Rushdie told BBC radio in an interview. Hadi Matar was sentenced to 25 years in a New York court on May 16 after being convicted of attempted murder and assault. Video footage played during the trial showed Matar rushing onto stage and plunging a knife into Rushdie that left the British-American author blind in one eye. Last year, Rushdie published a memoir recounting the experience called "Knife", in which he has an imagined conversation with Matar. "If I was to really meet him... I wouldn't get very much out of him," Rushdie said. "And so I thought, well, I could open it by myself. I'd probably do it better than a real conversation would." afp
Nahar Net
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Nahar Net
Salman Rushdie says 'pleased' with attacker's jail sentence
by Naharnet Newsdesk 7 hours Salman Rushdie said Monday he was "pleased" with the maximum 25-year jail sentence handed to a man who tried to kill him with a knife at a New York cultural center in 2022. "I was pleased that he got the maximum available, and hopefully he uses it to reflect upon his deeds," Rushdie told BBC radio in an interview. Hadi Matar was sentenced to 25 years in a New York court on May 16 after being convicted of attempted murder and assault. Video footage played during the trial showed Matar rushing onto stage and plunging a knife into Rushdie in the 2022 attack which left the British-American author blind in one eye. Last year, Rushdie published a memoir recounting the near-death experience called "Knife", in which he has an imagined conversation with Matar. "If I was to really meet him... I wouldn't get very much out of him," Rushdie told the BBC. "I doubt that he would open his heart to me." "And so I thought, well, I could open it by myself. I'd probably do it better than a real conversation would," said the author, who did not attend the sentencing earlier this month. Rushdie has for decades lived under the shadow of Iran's 1989 fatwa calling for his murder over alleged blasphemy in his novel "The Satanic Verses". Matar previously told media he had only read two pages of "The Satanic Verses" but believed the author had "attacked Islam". Rushdie, who was born in Mumbai but moved to England as a boy, was propelled into the spotlight with the Booker Prize-winning "Midnight's Children" (1981) based in post-independence India. His publisher announced in March that "The Eleventh Hour," a collection of short stories examining themes and places of interest to Rushdie, will be released on November 4, 2025.
Nahar Net
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Nahar Net
Salman Rushdie says 'pleased' with attacker's jail sentence
by Naharnet Newsdesk 26 May 2025, 16:24 Salman Rushdie said Monday he was "pleased" with the maximum 25-year jail sentence handed to a man who tried to kill him with a knife at a New York cultural center in 2022. "I was pleased that he got the maximum available, and hopefully he uses it to reflect upon his deeds," Rushdie told BBC radio in an interview. Hadi Matar was sentenced to 25 years in a New York court on May 16 after being convicted of attempted murder and assault. Video footage played during the trial showed Matar rushing onto stage and plunging a knife into Rushdie in the 2022 attack which left the British-American author blind in one eye. Last year, Rushdie published a memoir recounting the near-death experience called "Knife", in which he has an imagined conversation with Matar. "If I was to really meet him... I wouldn't get very much out of him," Rushdie told the BBC. "I doubt that he would open his heart to me." "And so I thought, well, I could open it by myself. I'd probably do it better than a real conversation would," said the author, who did not attend the sentencing earlier this month. Rushdie has for decades lived under the shadow of Iran's 1989 fatwa calling for his murder over alleged blasphemy in his novel "The Satanic Verses". Matar previously told media he had only read two pages of "The Satanic Verses" but believed the author had "attacked Islam". Rushdie, who was born in Mumbai but moved to England as a boy, was propelled into the spotlight with the Booker Prize-winning "Midnight's Children" (1981) based in post-independence India. His publisher announced in March that "The Eleventh Hour," a collection of short stories examining themes and places of interest to Rushdie, will be released on November 4, 2025.
