Our staff

Daniel Gorman, Director

Daniel Gorman joined English PEN as Director in August 2019. Prior to English PEN Daniel was Executive Director of Shubbak, Europe’s largest festival of contemporary Arab culture. Daniel is also a co-founder of Highlight Arts, who have organised UK-based international arts festivals and events since 2007 including projects working with writers in Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. Daniel has written for the Guardian, Irish Times, N+1 and many others, and contributed an essay to the PEN supported volume Syria Speaks: Art and Culture from the Frontline (Saqi Books, 2014).  Daniel is a National Arts Strategies ‘CEO Community and Culture’ 2015 fellow and a British Council Cultural Leadership International fellow.

Natasha Bucknor, Head of Operations

Natasha joined English PEN as Head of Operations in July 2022. Natasha is responsible for managing PEN’s day to day operations and systems. She has a background in theatre and the performing arts. Elsewhere, she works as an Associate Consultant, supporting organisations across the cultural sector. Natasha is also a Trustee at Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse.

Charlotte Aston, Head of Development

Charlotte joined English PEN as Head of Development in September 2023 and leads on our fundraising, working closely with our partners and supporters who help make English PEN’s work possible.

She started her career in publishing before moving into the fundraising sector, where she has experience working in a range of organisations, including Arts Council England, the Science Museum, Create London and, most recently, Shelter.  Charlotte grew up in the United Arab Emirates and studied European Social and Political Studies at UCL, with a focus on International Relations and German. She recently completed an MSc in Charity Accounting and Financial Management at Bayes Business School, City University of London.

Cat Lucas, Writers at Risk Programme Manager

Cat manages the Writers at Risk Programme, running our international campaigns on behalf of literary professionals at risk around the world, and our residency programme for international writers. Cat studied French and Spanish at University College London, and her translations of work by Cuban writers Jorge Olivera Castillo and Julio Cesar Galvez have been published in Index on Censorship and PEN International’s ‘Write Against Impunity’ anthology.

Will Forrester, Translation and International Manager

Will runs the Writers in Translation programme, managing PEN Translates, editing PEN Transmissions and programming International Translation Day.

Previously, he worked for Commonwealth Writers, the cultural agency for the Commonwealth, and in the visual arts in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has a BA in English and an MSt in World Literatures from the University of Oxford. Elsewhere, he is Project Manager at Untold, a programme working with writers in conflict and post-conflict areas, and is Non-fiction Editor at Review 31. His writing has appeared in the Guardian, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the London Magazine, and elsewhere.

Zoe Sadler, Events and Prizes Manager

Zoe joined English PEN as Events and Prizes Manager in June 2022 where she works with a range of partners to deliver events and prizes celebrating authors from around the world. After studying English and Theatre at the University of Bristol, she worked in arts PR and marketing with two month-long stints at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and then as a Campaign Officer at The Reading Agency, promoting books to library users, schools, reading groups and people in prison.

Sim Eldem, Head of Communications

Sim joined English PEN in January 2021 as interim Head of Communications. Previously, they worked with campaigners for gender diversity in music, Keychange, PR consultancy Bolton & Quinn, and Southbank Centre. Sim grew up in Istanbul and has an MA in History of Art from the University of East Anglia. They are a volunteer with trans-led charity for young people, Gendered Intelligence.

Dalia Nasreddin, UK Campaigns Manager

Dalia joined English PEN as UK Campaigns Manager in January 2023, where she works on the promotion and protection of freedom of expression. She is a graduate of law from Queen Mary University of London and The University of Edinburgh, where she received an LLM in European Law. Prior to joining English PEN, Dalia worked as Legal Officer at the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, where she worked on anti-corruption and the promotion of media freedom and pluralism.

Nadia Saeed, Translation and International Officer

Nadia joined English PEN as Programmes and Administration Assistant in October 2020. She works closely with the team on membership, finance and PEN Translates. She graduated from the University of York in 2018 with a BA in English and Linguistics and has since worked in both the Theatre and Publishing industries.

Eleanor Antoniou, Membership and Communications Officer

Eleanor joined English PEN as Administration Assistant in September 2022, after graduating from the University of Cambridge with a BA in Classics. At university, she was Editor of a feminist magazine and wrote for a range of publications on a diverse selection of topics. She also took part in and led campaigns for breast cancer awareness, the environment and women’s rights.

Krysta McKenzie, Administration Assistant

Krysta joined English PEN as Administration Assistant in August 2023. They grew up in Jamaica and moved to the UK just before secondary school. Always having had a deep interest in books, Krysta went on to study English Literature at the University of East Anglia, specialising in postcolonial studies. A few months after completing their degree, they started working as an Editorial Assistant at DIVA Magazine – spending most of their time writing about being Black and queer, and sharing culturally relevant news.