**Sir Salman Rushdie Reflects on Finding Closure After Stabbing Attack**
Sir Salman Rushdie, the renowned 77-year-old author, has spoken publicly about moving forward from the traumatic attack that nearly claimed his life in August 2022. Rushdie was critically injured after being stabbed multiple times while preparing to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York State. The violent incident, which resulted in the loss of an eye and other lasting injuries, sent shockwaves throughout the literary world and ignited conversations around freedom of expression and author safety.
Appearing at the esteemed Hay Festival in Wales this past weekend, Sir Salman reassured festivalgoers about his recovery, remarking, “I am feeling excellent… this is as good as it gets.” He candidly acknowledged the physical consequences of the attack, admitting some frustration over the loss of his right eye, but also expressed gratitude for his overall recovery, noting he was faring “better than maybe I would have expected”.
The man responsible for the attack, 27-year-old Hadi Matar, was convicted of attempted murder and assault earlier this year. He is currently serving a 25-year sentence following a high-profile trial that concluded in February. Commenting on the outcome, Sir Salman said, “I’m glad that trial is over and done with. And that he got the maximum sentence.” He added, however, that true closure came not from the verdict, but from completing his book about the ordeal.
Rushdie’s latest work, *Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder*, delves into the aftermath of the assault and his journey towards healing. He admitted that the process of writing the memoir provided him with a much-needed sense of control over his own story. “The closure was more finishing writing about it,” he stated firmly, indicating that he is eager for the public conversation to move beyond the attack and back to his literary pursuits.
Since the events of 2022, Rushdie revealed that interest in his personal story has often overshadowed his broader body of work. “Ever since the attack, really, the only thing anybody’s wanted to talk to me about is the attack. And I’m over it,” he told the Hay Festival crowd, expressing hope that future discussions will focus on his fiction and the imaginative stories that originally inspired him to become a writer.
In the moments immediately following the attack, Rushdie was airlifted to hospital and underwent eight hours of emergency surgery. He sustained severe injuries to his face, neck, chest, and hand, and spent more than two weeks under hospital care before entering a rehabilitation programme. Despite these hardships, he has gradually returned to public life and literary engagement.
Unusually for an author of his stature, Rushdie sought the guidance of a therapist to help him process and write about the trauma he experienced. During a recent question-and-answer session at an English PEN event in London, he reflected, “[This is] the only book I’ve ever written with the help of a therapist.” By taking this approach, he explained, he was able to reclaim his 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.”
Nonetheless, bringing the events of that day to the page was a challenging endeavour. Sir Salman conceded it was especially difficult to recount the specifics of the attack, recalling that the opening chapter, in which he details what happened, was “very hard to do”.
Today, as he continues to participate in literary festivals and public events, Sir Salman Rushdie’s focus is squarely on the future. He emphasises both the importance of resilience and his desire to be defined once again by his fiction, rather than the violence he suffered. For Rushdie, the chapter on his stabbing is now, finally, drawing to a close.