Salman Rushdie: writers gather in New York to read author’s works in solidarity

People listen as writers gather to read works of the British author Salman Rushdie outside the New York Public Library in New York City. Photograph: Timothy A Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Crowds gathered near the steps of the New York Public Library in midtown Manhattan on Friday morning, as writers read works by the novelist Salman Rushdie, who survived an assassination attempt in western New York last week.

The event, Stand With Salman; Defend the Freedom to Write, was organized by Pen America, the library and Rushdie’s publisher, Penguin Random House.