Paul Auster, Aasif Mandvi and others support Salman Rushdie with public readings

At a rally outside the New York Public Library, writers including Paul Auster and Gay Talese read passages from Salman Rushdie's work. His assailant has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges after being accused of stabbing Rushdie during a literary event at the Chautauqua Institution. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images)

On the steps of New York Public Library, such prominent writers as Paul Auster, Gay Talese and Kiran Desai drew from Salman Rushdie's own words to express their solidarity with the 75-year-old after he was brutally attacked at a literary event in western New York.

"Not even a blade to the throat could still the voice of Salman Rushdie," Suzanne Nossel, chief executive officer of the event's co-organizer, PEN America, told the audience.