Hisham Matar on “Moving On” From Tragedy, Documenting Family Stories, and Connecting with Art

Hisham Matar on “Moving On” From Tragedy, Documenting Family Stories, and Connecting with Art

Hisham Matar is a Libyan American author and professor best known for his Pulitzer Prize winning memoir “The Return: Fathers, Sons, and the Land in Between”. It’s gripping tale of Hisham’s life long investigation into his father’s disappearance.

Hisham’s award winning novels include:  In the Country of Men, Anatomy of Disappearance, and A Month in Siena.

On this storytelling session of Podcast Noor we dig into the following questions:

What does it really mean to move on from tragedy?

How do we look at paintings as companions?

What is Hisham’s journey and practice of writing a book?

What does banning books mean for a society?

How can creating art be part of your fate and destiny?

How did Hisham’s memoir, “The Return” come to life?

What role does Diana, Hisham’s wife, play in his writing?

How do we begin to document the unspeakable, so the stories don’t get lost?

How do other men react to Hisham’s story and open up about their own relationship with their fathers?

What does it really mean to “move on?”

What has Hisham learned about committing to the present moment?

What did Hisham’s father teach him about how to debate and have a conversation?

And how do we truly move forward after tragedy and “find closure”?

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Theme Music: "Thunderdome (W.T.A)" by Portugal. The Man

Follow Hisham:

www.instagram.com/hishamjmatar

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