1. Hanif Kureishi is known for his film My Beautiful Laundrette and novel The Buddha of Suburbia.
24 Facts About Hanif Kureishi
2.
Hanif Kureishi was born on 5 December 1954 in Bromley, South London, to a Pakistani father, Rafiushan Kureishi, and an English mother, Audrey Buss.
3.
Hanif Kureishi's father was from a wealthy family based in Madras, whose members moved to Pakistan after the Partition of India in 1947.
4.
Hanif Kureishi wanted to be a writer but his ambitions were frustrated, with his submissions to publishers turned down.
5.
Hanif Kureishi attended Bromley Technical High School and studied for A-levels at Bromley College of Technology.
6.
Hanif Kureishi spent a year studying philosophy at Lancaster University, then withdrew.
7.
Hanif Kureishi later attended King's College London and earned a degree in philosophy.
8.
Hanif Kureishi went on to write plays for the Hampstead Theatre, Soho Poly, and by the age of 18, was with the Royal Court.
9.
Hanif Kureishi wrote My Beautiful Laundrette in 1985, about a gay Pakistani-British boy growing up in 1980s London, for a film directed by Stephen Frears.
10.
Hanif Kureishi wrote the screenplay for Sammy and Rosie Get Laid.
11.
Hanif Kureishi wrote the 2006 screenplay Venus, for the film starring Peter O'Toole.
12.
Hanif Kureishi has written non-fiction, including an autobiography, My Ear at His Heart.
13.
In October 2013, Hanif Kureishi was appointed as a professor in the creative writing department at Kingston University in London, where he was a writer in residence.
14.
Hanif Kureishi has twin boys from his relationship with film producer Tracey Scoffield and a younger son from a previous relationship.
15.
Hanif Kureishi's family have accused him of exploiting them with thinly disguised references in his work, with his sister Yasmin writing a letter to The Guardian about it.
16.
Hanif Kureishi says that his descriptions of her family's working-class roots are fictitious, and their father was not a bitter old man.
17.
Hanif Kureishi's father felt that Hanif Kureishi had robbed him of his dignity in The Buddha of Suburbia, and didn't speak to him for many months.
18.
In early 2013, Hanif Kureishi lost his life savings in a suspected fraud.
19.
In 2014, the British Library announced that it would be acquiring the archive of Hanif Kureishi's documents spanning 40 years of his writing life.
20.
On 26 December 2022, Hanif Kureishi was hospitalised following a fall in Rome, which left him with spinal injuries and unable to move his limbs.
21.
Hanif Kureishi was convinced he was going to die while in hospital, later saying that his partner, Isabella d'Amico, helped keep him calm and saved his life.
22.
Hanif Kureishi has since written about the fall and his recovery process on social media and in a blog.
23.
Hanif Kureishi was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to Literature and Drama.
24.
Hanif Kureishi has won a number of literary awards, including:.