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| Daniel Gorman | |
Daniel Gorman has been appointed director of English PEN, effective this August. He will succeed Antonia Byatt, who is leaving to become CEO of First Story. Gorman joins PEN from the Shubbak Festival of contemporary Arab culture, where he is executive director and has, over the past five years, increased the festival's scale and scope.
Gorman's "extensive experience of working with writers and supporting artists in areas of conflict, both with Shubbak and as co-founder of Highlight Arts, makes him well suited to PEN's work protecting writers at risk across the world," English PEN said. "As a commissioner, he also has a brilliant track record of presenting new and diverse voices to audiences in the U.K.--also central to English PEN's mission."
The organization noted that since 2017, Byatt "has successfully put PEN on a firm financial footing and kicked off an exciting program for PEN's centenary in 2021. Daniel will join a committed team to develop the program and to build English PEN for the next period so that it can continue to champion freedom of expression and ideas across the world."