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The Man Booker Prize-shortlisted author Hisham Matar has been elected onto the board of writers' charity English PEN. Literary agent David Miller has also joined the board.
Matar worked with English PEN on a campaign for the release of his father, a Libyan political prisoner, in 2010. He has since become closely involved with Libya's political transformations. Matar said: "I saw how able and effective PEN could be. In light of recent events in the Middle East, PEN's role has, in my view, become more important."
Matar and Miller will be joined on the English PEN board by Rachel Holmes, head of literature at the Southbank Centre; academic Amanda Hopkinson; and theatre director Nicolas Kent. The board is chaired by English PEN's president, writer Gillian Slovo.
English PEN's director, Jonathan Heawood, said it was "remarkable to have attracted five such outstanding candidates to the board".