Hisham Matar
(New York, 1970) made an instant name for himself internationally in 2006 with his debut, the novel In the Country of Men, nominated for the Man Booker Prize and the Guardian First Book Award. It is a gripping story about a boy who at an early age gets into contact with the cruel and fearful life in the Libya of Gadaffi. The debut novel was translated into 26 languages and won six international literary awards including the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Matar draws from personal experience. The son of a Libyan diplomat, Matar lived in the US for three years before returning to Tripoli. In 1979 the Gaddafi regime accused his father of subversive activities and the family had to leave Libya. The family lived in exile in Cairo for a number of years, where Matar finished his secondary school. He then left for London to study architecture. In 1990 his father was abducted in Cairo and disappeared without a trace. Essays by Matar have appeared in among others The Independent, The Guardian, The Times and The New York Times. A new novel by Matar, Anatomy of a Disappearance will be published in March 2011 in the UK.
Past events
Wintercafe 2: VPRO De Avonden
In VPRO’s De Avonden poets, musicians and writers give the audience a glimpse of their own Utopia. Gustaaf Peek, Hisham Matar and Elif Batuman will talk about writer's luck. Hosts: Jeroen van Kan and Lotje IJzermans. Music: Amarins & Le Gatte Negre Collective. In Dutch and English.
Imagined Fathers
The father of Colombian writer Hector Abad was assassinated; the politically dissident Lybian father of Hisham Matar was abducted; Carolina Trujillo fled Uruguay when she was six after her father had been taken prisoner. Jasper Henderson talks to them on how they deal with these events in literature. In English.
