Salman Rushdie First Appeared In PEN America Gala Since Being Stab And Was Awarded A PEN Centenary Courage Award

Thursday night, Salman Rushdie made his first appearance 9 months after being stabbed at the annual gala of PEN America. Rushdie provided his speech at the event as his final speech prior accepting his special prize, the PEN Centenary Courage Award.

Salman Rushdie First Appeared In PEN America Gala Since Being Stab And Was Awarded A PEN Centenary Courage Award (PHOTO: San Francisco Chronicle)

Salman Rushdie Was honored at PEN America Gala

Salman Rushdie, 75 years old made his emotional and surprising comeback to public life by attending the annual gala of PEN America saying “It’s nice to be back as opposed to not standing back, which was also a possibility. I’m glad the dice rolled this way.”

Rushdie was stabbed last August while on stage as he was at a literary festival in Western New York and since that attack, it was his first appearance in a public event as he gained a standing ovation.

Rushdie’s attendance at the gala was not informed and everyone was surprised by his presence that night as he dedicated some of his remarks to those who came to his help at the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education and retreat center. Salman Rushdie mentioned his fellow attendee, Henry Reese of the City of Asylum project in Pittsburgh, for tackling the attacker and thanked audience members who also help.

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Since 1980 Salman Rushdie Has Been Receiving Death Treats

According to ABC News, since Salman Rushdie published his novel, “The Satanic Verses,” he has been receiving death threats because his novel was about Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini condemned as blasphemous for passages directed at the Prophet Mohammad.

Rushdie has been hiding since the Ayatollah ordering for Rushdie’s execution, the reason why Rushdie is been moving from place to place and has been traveling for years before his attack.

Interviews and other communication through his Twitter account were granted by Salman Rushdie, he even had a video message to the British Book Awards, where he was vested a Freedom to Publish Prize.

Rushdie was delighted to attend the gala, but his voice sounded frailer compared to before, and the right frame of his glasses was dark, concealing the eye blinded by his attacker.

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