Salman Rushdie attends PEN America gala, his first in-person appearance since stabbing last summer

By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Salman Rushdie has made his first in-person public appearance since being stabbed repeatedly and hospitalized nine months ago. The author attended Thursday night’s annual gala of PEN America, the literary and free expression organization for which he once served as president. Rushdie said he feels great before the gala started. The 75-year-old attended the event, where hundreds of writers and other PEN members were gathering. “Saturday Night Live” founder Lorne Michaels was among those scheduled to be honored. Last August, Rushdie was stabbed multiple times during an appearance at the Chautaqua Institute in western New York, leaving him blind in his right eye and struggling to write.