Hisham Matar

Hisham Matar is an author whose debut novel, In the Country of Men, was shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize. Matar’s essays have appeared in Asharq Alawsat, The Independent, The Guardian, The Times and The New York Times. Born in New York City, Matar spent his childhood in America with his Libyan parents while his father was working for the United Nations. When he was three years old, his family returned to Tripoli, but in 1979 his father was accused of being a reactionary to Gaddafi’s revolutionary regime and was forced to flee the country. In 1990, while Matar was in London studying, his father was kidnapped in Cairo and has been reported missing ever since. Hisham Matar’s second novel- The Anatomy of a Disappearance- was published in March 2011. The FT called it: “a beautifully crafted tale coiled around an enigma.”