A poet who was persecuted and imprisoned by an African dictator has finally found a safe haven in York.

A campaign backed by Leeds University, former Liberal leader Sir David Steel and friends has resulted in Jack Mapanje and his family winning the right of permanent residence in Britain.

Jack, who feared his work might lead to further oppression and even death if he was forced to return to his home country, Malawi, says the Home Office's decision has come as an enormous relief.

The award-winning poet, who became the focus of an international campaign backed by writers including Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard after he was imprisoned without charge or trial in Malawi in 1987, has lived in York since 1991.

But every year he has feared that his annual application to be allowed to stay another 12 months would be turned down, and he would be kicked out of the country.

Jack, who lives at New Earswick with his wife, York District Hospital nurse Mercy, and has two daughters, Judith and Lunda, and a son, David, told today of his delight at winning liberty for the rest of his life.

He revealed how his problems in Malawi began after publication of his first volume of poems, Of Chameleons and Gods, which had obliquely mocked dictatorships. It was banned from sale in Malawi in 1985 by the regime of the then President, Hastings Banda and Jack was arrested and jailed two years later.

A campaign was then launched for his freedom which won backing from top literary figures from around the world. "The campaign HQ was the former Centre for Southern African Studies at York University," he said.

"I went 22 months without being visited. I was fortunate in that I escaped physical torture - that had just stopped. But I didn't know how long I would be in jail, or if I would even come out. That was the horror."

He was eventually released in 1991. "But I received official warnings from diplomatic circles that I could be bumped off."

He came to Britain and settled in York, because the university offered him a visiting research scholarship, and his work included running workshops in prisons, colleges and community centres across the North.

A York friend of Mercy, Janine MacKenzie, said: "I am so happy this has happened. They are such a lovely family, and Mercy is very highly thought of at the hospital."

Jack's third volume of poetry, called Skipping Without Ropes, will be published tomorrow and can be obtained from Waterstones bookshop in York.

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