ir Salman Rushdie is on a ventilator and may lose an eye after being stabbed on stage in New York state.
The 75-year-old was born in India British author suffered nerve damage to his arm and damage to his liver, according to the New York Times.
New York state police have named the suspected attacker as Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, who was taken into custody after the incident.
Sir Salman, whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institute, in Chautauqua, about 65 miles southwest of Buffalo, when the incident happened.
He was stabbed at least once in the neck and once in the abdomen, according to police officials, before being taken to hospital.
According to the NYT, Sir Salman’s agent Andrew Wylie said he was on a ventilator and unable to speak.
Mr Wylie added that the news was “not good” and that the author “will probably lose one eye”.
He said the nerves in Sir Salman’s arm had been severed by the attack and his liver had been “pierced and damaged”.
New York State Police Major Eugene Staniszweski said late Friday: “Earlier today at approximately 10:47 a.m., guest speakers Salman Rushdie, age 75, and Ralph Henry Reese, age 73, had just arrived on the institution’s podium.
“Shortly afterwards, the suspect jumped on stage and attacked Mr Rushdie, stabbing him at least once in the neck and at least once in the abdomen.
“Several members of the institution’s staff and the public rushed to the suspect and took him to the ground, and shortly afterwards a trooper who was in the institution took the suspect into custody with the help of a deputy from the sheriff of Chautauqua County.
“Mr Rushdie was treated medically by a doctor who was in the audience until the ambulance arrived.
“Mr Rushdie was flown to a local trauma center and is currently undergoing surgery.”
Photos from Associated Press (AP) news agency show Sir Salman lying on his back with his legs in the air with a first responder bent over him.
His book The Satanic Verses has been banned in Iran since 1988, as many Muslims consider it blasphemous, and its publication prompted Iran’s then-leader Ayatollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa calling for his death. .
Mr Reese, of the City of Asylum organization, a residency program for writers living in exile under threat of prosecution, suffered a minor head injury.
They would discuss America’s role as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression.
A video posted by an audience AP reporter on Twitter showed a man dressed in black being led away from the stage.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul told a news conference that a state police officer saved Sir Salman’s life.
She added: “He is alive, he has been rescued. But here is a person who has spoken the truth for decades in power, someone who has not been afraid there, despite the threats that have followed him throughout his adult life.”
The Chautauqua Institute, which hosted the lecture, tweeted about the incident, writing: “We ask for your prayers for Salman Rushdie and Henry Reese, and patience as we fully focus on coordinating with police officers following a tragic incident at the amphitheater today. “
President Michael Hill said: “What we witnessed in Chautauqua today is an incident unlike anything in our nearly 150-year history.
“We were founded to bring people and the community together to learn and create solutions through action, developing empathy and tackling persistent problems.
“Today we are called to address fear and the worst of all human traits – hate.”
Jeremy Genovese, 68, of Beachwood, Ohio, a retired Cleveland State University academic, told the PA news agency that he arrived at the amphitheater as it was being evacuated and people were “streaming.”
He said: “People were in shock, many people in tears. Chautauqua has always prided itself on being a place where people can engage in civil dialogue.
“The amphitheater is a large open-air venue where people have given lectures since the late 1800s. You need a pass to enter the site, but it’s not too difficult to get in.”
Sir Salman’s publisher Penguin Random House said he was “deeply shocked and appalled” by the incident.
Chief executive Markus Dohle said in a statement to PA: “We are deeply shocked and appalled to hear of the attack on Salman Rushdie as he spoke at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.
“We condemn this violent public attack and our thoughts are with Salman and his family at this harrowing time.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “appalled that Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed while exercising a right we should never cease to defend”.
He added: “Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We all hope he’s okay.”
Labor Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “Salman Rushdie has long embodies the fight for freedom and liberty against those they want to destroy.
“This cowardly attack on him yesterday is an attack on those values. The entire Labor Party is praying for his full recovery.”
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said: “Today the country and the world witnessed a reprehensible attack on the writer Salman Rushdie. This act of violence is terrible.
“All of us in the Biden-Harris administration pray for his speedy recovery. We are grateful to the good civilians and first responders for their assistance to Mr Rushdie so soon after the attack, and we are grateful to law enforcement for their prompt and effective work, which is underway.”
Sir Salman previously served as president of PEN America, which celebrates freedom of speech and expression, and chief executive Suzanne Nossel condemned the attack.
She tweeted: “PEN America trembles with shock and horror at the hearing of a brutal, premeditated attack on our former president and staunch ally, Salman Rushdie.”
She added: “Our thoughts and passions are now with our intrepid Salman, who wishes him a full and speedy recovery. We fervently hope and believe that his vital voice cannot and will not be silenced.”
Sir Salman began his writing career in the early 1970s with two failed books for Midnight’s Children, about the birth of India, which won the Booker Prize in 1981.
It subsequently brought him worldwide fame and was named “best of the Bookers” on the 25th anniversary of the literary award.
The author lived in hiding in London for many years under a British government protection program after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for his death over The Satanic Verses.
Finally, in 1998, the Iranian government withdrew its support for the death penalty and Sir Salman gradually returned to public life, even as himself in the 2001 hit film Bridget Jones’s Diary.
The Index on Censorship, an organization that promotes free speech, said money was raised in 2016 to increase the reward for Sir Salman’s murder, underlining that the fatwa for his death still applies.
He was knighted in 2008 and earlier this year he was made a member of the Order of Companions of Honor as part of the Queen’s Birthday.