Interview: Hisham Matar

Following up his Man Booker Prize nominated In the Country of Men, Hisham Matar’s second novel Anatomy of a Disappearance is released this month with great pressure on its shoulders. Hisham Matar talks to London Student about his inspirations, his hopes and the advice he gives student writers like yourselves.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I don’t believe I ever decided. It has been the thing I have always done, the thing that has always felt right: both familiar and mysterious.

What are your main inspirations?

Silence. An empty day. A certain winter light. Then everything beautiful: paintings, books, music – mostly, music. I go to a concert a week. And I almost never walk away empty handed or empty hearted.

How have your own experiences influenced your fiction?

Everything that I have experienced forms my imagination and the imagination is the engine one needs to write fiction.

What work do you do with Charity First Story and how did you become involved with them?

I was asked if I would be one of their writers-in-residence and I said YES! I go once a week into Holland Park School and run writing workshops with the students there. I am amazed by what they come out with: it’s always fresh and surprising.

How did it feel to be shortlisted for the man-booker prize?

Very fortunate. I smiled to myself all day; but at the same time I could not stop myself thinking, soon enough someone will call to say, “Sorry, there has been a mistake.”

What advice would you give to aspiring student writers?

Write, read, and finish what you started writing. Also, I would ask them to question their motives, to remain true to the work and not as the work to beat their drum.

Anatomy of a Disappearance

Viking £16.99

Out Now