Friday 12 August 2022 05:55 PM Salman Rushdie, 75, stabbed at education center where 100,000 people gather trends now
Salman Rushdie was stabbed at an event for creatives at an upstate New York education center where 100,000 people gather each summer for 'community and personal growth.'
The novelist, who was knifed in the neck while on stage, was preparing to give a lecture on City of Asylum, a Pittsburgh-based sanctuary for writers under threat of persecution.
The event was part of the Chautauqua Institution's ongoing lecture series - which runs across summer. Thousands of people travel for the creative and spiritual events at the non-profit center.
Rushdie, 75, was prepared to speak alongside Henry Reese, the co-founder and president of City of Asylum.
His speech was to begin at 10:45 a.m. as a 'discussion of the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression.'
Rushdie, 75, has previously received death threats for his writing, with his book the Satanic Verses sparking protests in 1988. He was stabbed in the neck
The institution, located by Chautauqua Lake in western New York, hosts thousands each year for its annual nine-week lecture series
Week seven of the institution's lecture series was an ongoing discussion of 'redefining the American home'
Medics attended to Rushdie after the attack, with witnesses saying a man 'punched and stabbed' the author as he was announced on stage
Blood appeared to be spattered on the wall behind where Rushdie had been attacked, with some also seen on a chair
Prior to his speaking engagement at the institution, Rushdie had given a speech in 1997 which had inspired Reese to found City of Asylum, the organization said.
This is not the first time Rushdie has taken part in a lecture series hosted by the institution, according to its website.
Chautauqua Institution, founded in 1874 as a 'vacation learning' spot, is a nonprofit organization located on Chautauqua Lake near Buffalo in western New York.
The institution's website says it is 'dedicated to the exploration of the best in human values and the enrichment of life through a program that explores the important religious, social and political issues of our times.'
In its history, the institution has been visited by four sitting U.S. presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Bill Clinton.
The main amphitheater has been host to FDR's 'I hate war' speech in 1936 in addition to other historical figures like Booker T. Washington, Susan B. Anthony and Amelia Earhart.
Artists
