Rushdie reappears at the ceremony of the American PEN Club.

Writer Salman Rushdiewho was seriously injured in an attack by a Muslim extremist last August, made his first public appearance on Thursday night at an awards ceremony PEN America in New York, and his presence was greeted with applause from the audience.

Rushdie hid the eye he lost during the attack with a black lens, and without losing his good mood he showed with the first words: “Greetings to all.” It’s good to be here again, compared to the downside, which was also an option. I’m really glad that the dice lined up like that,” he said.

The writer, who has always been very engaged in PEN America —the main forum that brings together established writers— and who became its president, received a bravery award for surviving an attack by Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old of Lebanese origin. When receiving the award, Rushdie wanted to pay tribute to all those who came to his aid on the day of the attack on the institution in upstate New York: «I was the target that day, they were the heroes. The courage that day was all his,” he said and showed that he does not intend to remain silent after the attack. “Terrorism should not scare us. Violence cannot stop us. As the old Marxists said, la lutte to continue, the lottery continueshe said in French and Italian.

Rushdie was sentenced to death in a fatwa he issued Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini 1989 for the publication of his satanic versesand since that date he has spent most of his life under constant escort and surveillance, although control has recently loosened.

just a few pages

Rushdie’s attacker Come on Matar, In preventive detention, he is accused of attempted murder, and faces a sentence of up to 25 years in prison. In the only interview he gave after the attack, he admitted that he had only read “a couple of pages” of Rushdie’s work, which led to Rushdie’s attempt to kill him.