Edinburgh book festival authors support Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie is on a ventilator after being stabbed on stage at an event in the US

Authors at the Edinburgh Book Festival will read from Salman Rushdie's books in a gesture of solidarity after he was attacked in the US.

Festival organisers said all guests at the event, which launched on Saturday, are invited to begin their sessions with a sentence from one of his works.

Mr Rushdie, 75, is on a ventilator after being stabbed on stage in New York state.

Police detained a suspect named as Hadi Matar, 24, from Fairview, New Jersey.

Mr Rushdie last attended the Edinburgh International Book Festival in person in 2019 and joined the event online last year.

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Festival director Nick Barley said: "We are inspired by his courage and are thinking of him at this difficult time.

"This tragedy is a painful reminder of the fragility of things we hold dear and a call to action: we won't be intimidated by those who would use violence rather than words.

"As a gesture of support and solidarity we are inviting all authors appearing in the adult programme to read a sentence from one of Salman's books."

Salman Rushie appeared at the book festival via video link last year

Mr Rushdie went into hiding with police protection in the UK in 1988 after Iran's leader called for his murder over his novel, The Satanic Verses, which some Muslims deemed blasphemous.

More than 550 authors are part of the book festival this year.

These include Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa, Vietnamese American poet Ocean Vuong, Outlander writer Diana Gabaldon, as well as Noam Chomsky, Jack Monroe, Alexander McCall Smith, Denise Mina, William Dalrymple and Armando Iannucci.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will also be at two events, interviewing novelist Louise Welsh and the actor Brian Cox.

The festival runs until Monday 29 August.