Salman Rushdie says he is writing a book about the attack that left him blind in one eye

Speaking at the FT Weekend Festival in Washington on Saturday, the 75-year-old novelist said he was still “a bit beat up” but “basically fine” almost a year after the attempt on his life.

Wearing glasses with a dark right lens, Rushdie appeared at the event via video link.

“I don’t read as fast as I used to, but … . I’m writing what I think will be a fairly short book about what happened” Rushdie declared in a wider conversation about his works.

Rushdie has been facing persecution for his work for several decades and has lived under the threat of death. The Satanic Verses, first published in 1988, generated controversy for its depiction of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The book was banned in Iran, and the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie.

Following the death threat, Rushdie went into hiding and lived under armed guard.

After last year’s attack, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the Iranian government of inciting violence against Rushdie and criticized Tehran for “gloating” over his attack.

On Saturday, Rushdie mocked his critics, saying: “If my work has enemies, they are probably the enemies I have to have.”

Asked what his advice would be to aspiring young writers, Rushdie replied: “I would tell them to do what they have to do and not be afraid.”

“There are a lot of people who, in many ways, are trying right now to put fences around what’s OK to do and what’s not OK to do … if anything is going to kill the novel, it’s going to be Rushdie warned at the FT Festival on Saturday.

“We have to tell our truth in our own way and give it to the world,” he added.