Hisham Matar

There and then, sitting beside her and within the strength of my adoration, I felt invincible.

— Hisham Matar

To be okay with not knowing is a sign of a mature person and a mature society.

— Hisham Matar

“History remembers Mussolini as the buffoonish Fascist, the ineffective silly man of Italy who led a lame military campaign in the Second…

— Hisham Matar

Grief loves the hollow; all it wants is to hear its own echo.

— Hisham Matar

Dreams have consequences.

— Hisham Matar

Language is not just a code; you are writing into its history, into its tides.

— Hisham Matar

My parents were fairly laid-back, but there were certain things about which they were very strict. My brother and I were told…

— Hisham Matar

I am terribly interested in the paragraph: the paragraph as an object, the construction, and the possibilities of what a paragraph can…

— Hisham Matar

My parents left Libya in 1979, escaping political repression, and settled in Cairo. I was nine.

— Hisham Matar

Libyans are deeply unsettled by Gaddafi and his regime's careless contempt for human life. The dictatorship is willing to employ any methods…

— Hisham Matar

My best hope is that Libya turns into a peaceful, sensible country that has all the things my father and lots of…

— Hisham Matar

Season of Migration to the North, by Tayeb Salih, is an eloquent and restrained portrait of one man's exile. It is a…

— Hisham Matar

Turgenev's achievement lies in how he succeeded, in spite of himself, his country, and his time, in exempting his work from public…

— Hisham Matar

Over the centuries, close-knit tribes have played an important part in the cohesion of Libyan society.

— Hisham Matar

My work is my shelter, particularly in these moments when things are happening fast.

— Hisham Matar

The space where writing happens is a unique space that's hard to define, and when you're kicked out of it because you're…

— Hisham Matar

The romantic idea of the penniless writer is false. It's terrible. I hated being in debt. I hated the anxiety of not…

— Hisham Matar

My family settled in Cairo in 1980. I was nine. I missed Libya terribly, but I also took to Cairo. I perfected…

— Hisham Matar

I lost my father when I was 19, so the majority of my life has been under this cloud, and I have…

— Hisham Matar

It is sometimes hard to escape the belief that history exists against the artist.

— Hisham Matar

Books have shown me horror and beauty.

— Hisham Matar

I used to be a keen rider. Sometimes I could sense what a horse liked or preferred to do.

— Hisham Matar

“My silence made her say things she didn't need to say..”

— Hisham Matar

Audacity, hope, courage - the Libyans have these in abundance. But all those boring little things - like organization, building a committee…

— Hisham Matar

We got rid of Muammar Gaddafi. I never thought I would be able to write these words.

— Hisham Matar