The siege and the city that shaped Hisham Matar

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As a boy, the novelist Hisham Matar was haunted by images of the 1984 Libyan Embassy siege in London. It was when Libyan officials from inside the embassy building opened fire at a group of protestors, seriously wounding 11 people and killing one police officer. At the time, Hisham’s family had been forced to flee Libya and the regime of dictator Colonel Gaddafi and he spent much of his childhood in hiding. Now four decades on, he reflects on how deeply the siege, the city, and the survivors would shape his own life and the writing of his novel, My Friends. Presenter: Shahidha Bari Producer: Maryam Maruf Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707 (Photo: Hisham Matar. Credit: Getty Images)