• Salman Rushdie He is on a ventilator and could lose an eye after the attack

  • USA Salman Rushdie bounces back as 'The Satanic Verses' sales soar

A crowd has gathered

on the steps of the

New York Public Library , with books by

Salman Rushdie

and large banners bearing messages of support for the author.

After the attack on the British writer last Friday -in which he was stabbed in the neck and abdomen by a man serving the Iranian fatwa-, the library has brought together the event

Stand with Salman: Defend the Freedom to Write,

in which they have brought together various writers such as

Siri Hustvedt, Paul Auster, Gay Talese

, Jeffrey Eugenides, Colum McCann, Roya Hakakian, Hari Kunzru, A.M. Homes, Kiran Desai, and Andrew Solomon.

The participants have gathered to

support the author and -at the same time- as a demonstration in favor of freedom of expression

.

Minutes before it began, author

Stephen King

sent a message of encouragement: "All writers who speak the truth are my brothers. Every writer who is not ruled by fear is my sister. Salman Rushdie's courage in the face of religious fascism is an example for all of us"

The event was organized in collaboration with PEN America, a non-profit organization that advocates for freedom of expression, both in the United States and around the world.

"We celebrate the freedom of writing and

recognize the power of words to change the world

," says the organization.

The meeting took place this Friday morning, and was opened by the director of PEN America, Suzanne Nossel.

"Authors - those who have talent, vision, and are able to inspire the public with their magical phrases - use, powerfully, the freedom of expression.

If they cannot dedicate themselves to their craft without fear, none of us are safe

. So that we join Salman in an effort to lift his spirits, but also in a determination to strengthen us."

Nossel has also noted that the event was a "celebration of life", meaning a celebration that Salman Rushdie survived the attack and will recover.

Poet Dwayne Betts has read an excerpt from

The Power of the Pen

, Rushdie's lecture at the PEN Festival in 2005. Novelist Hari Kunzru has shared a few words from Rushdie's best-known work,

The Satanic Verses

, a book that led to the death sentence of the Iranian government in 1989. In addition to the great names in the intellectual world who attended the event, others such as

Bernard-Henri Lévy and Angela Graham

have participated through social networks by sharing videos in which they have read some works by Rushdie.

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