The novelist Sir Salman Rushdie, 75, has been stabbed at an event in Chautauqua, New York after receiving death threats.
The famous and controversial author was photographed on stage receiving medical treatment
Sir Rushdie had been due to give a speech at the Chautauqua Institution, which has now been evacuated.
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Eyewitnesses inside the event have described in detail the lead-up to the incident.
Encouragingly, it's claimed that Sir Rushdie was able to walk off stage with assistance.
His attacker is reportedly now in custody and as of yet, the condition of Sir Rushdie is unclear.
Tweeting from Chautauqua, Allen V. Harris said: "A most horrible event just happened at Chautauqua institution - Salman Rushdie was attacked on stage at #chq2022.
"The amphitheatre is evacuated. Rushdie walked off stage with assistance and the attacker is in custody."
Another Twitter user said: "Salmon Rushdie was just stabbed multiple times on stage at Chautauqua Institution."
As a former Booker Prize winner, Sir Rushdie's work has been both celebrated and criticised across the world.
He has been dogged by death threats since the publication of his most famous work, The Satanic Verses.
Published in 1988, it was banned in India and the subject of protests around the world due to its portrayal of the prophet Muhammed.
In 1989, Sir Rushdie received a fatwa (a death sentence) by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini and shortly afterwards was given security paid for by the taxpayer after a £1.2million bounty was issued for him.
Humanists UK, a charitable group which Mr Rushdie is a patron of, tweeted: "Shocked to hear about the attack on our patron Salman Rushdie.
"Details at this moment are scarce. But given that he has been a high-profile advocate for freedom of expression, and someone who has lived under death threats for years, we are concerned this could be the motivation."
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