It’s been nearly two years since Salman Rushdie was stabbed multiple times at a literary festival in Chautauqua, New York. The author was severely wounded, losing sight in one eye and the use of one of his hands. But now Rushdie appears to be β€” tentatively β€” stepping back into the limelight.

On Sunday, 60 Minutes will publish Rushdie’s first TV interview since the attack, in which he talks to journalist Anderson Cooper about his experience. β€œOne of the surgeons who had saved my life said β€˜first you were really unlucky and then you were really lucky’,” he commented. Pressed on what the β€œlucky part was”, Rushdie quoted the doctor as saying that β€œthe man who attacked you had no idea how to kill a man with a knife.” Fortunately, the Midnight’s Children author appears to be as defiant as ever.