Salman Rushdie announces his memoir about being stabbed last year

Salman Rushdie’s memoir, Knife, is his "way to take charge of what happened, and to answer violence with art." It is set to be published on April 16, 2024, according to Penguin Random House.

During the Hay literary festival in June, the Indian-born British-American author, who had survived a knife attack in 2022, shared with the audience that he was working on a new book. He stated that it would be a relatively short book, spanning only a couple of hundred pages. The author made this announcement via a pre-recorded Zoom appearance.

“It’s not the easiest book in the world to write, but it’s something I need to get past in order to do anything else. I can’t really start writing a novel that’s got nothing to do with this,” he explained “So I just have to deal with it.”

Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder is a book written about the author's experience of surviving an attempt on his life. Nihar Malaviya, CEO of Penguin Random House, describes it as "a searing book." He sees the memoir as "a reminder of the power of words to make sense of the unthinkable. We are honoured to publish it, and amazed at Salman’s determination to tell his story, and to return to the work he loves."

Rushdie was stabbed repeatedly as was due to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York State. The writer then remained in the hospital for six weeks. He lost vision in one eye and feeling in some fingertips after the incident. The man suspected of stabbing the author, Hadi Matar, has been charged with attempted murder.