Sir Salman Rushdie is poised to make his first in-person appearance since a stabbing attack left him blind in one eye in 2022. According to bbc.com, the author of 22 works of fiction and non-fiction, including the Booker Prize-winning Midnight’s Children, will join the Hay Festival line-up to discuss his recent books Knife and Victory City.
Rushdie’s appearance comes over 35 years after his novel The Satanic Verses sparked widespread controversy and death threats, forcing him into hiding. In 2022, he was attacked on a New York lecture stage, suffering severe injuries, including vision loss in one eye and nerve damage to his arm. The attacker, Hadi Matar, was convicted of attempted murder and assault.
Despite the traumatic experience, Rushdie says he’s “delighted to be returning ‘after too long’.”
He will participate in an exclusive session exploring the power of storytelling to change the world. Festival organisers describe the event, which will run from May 22 to June 1 in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, featuring notable figures like Donald Trump’s niece, Michael Sheen, and Ruth Jones, as a “carnival of ideas,” featuring over 600 events and attracting 150,000 visitors.
