Hanif Kureishi

Author profile

born

December 05, 1954 in London, The United Kingdom

website

http://www.hanifkureishi.com/

genre

Literature & Fiction

About this author

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Kureishi was born in London to a Pakistani father and an English mother. His father, Rafiushan, was from a wealthy Madras family, most of whose members moved to Pakistan after the Partition of India in 1947. He came to Britain to study law but soon abandoned his studies. After meeting and marrying Kureishi's mother Audrey, he settled in Bromley, where Kureishi was born and worked at the Pakistan Embassy.

He attended Bromley Technical High School where David Bowie had also been a pupil and after taking his A levels at a local sixth form college, he spent a year studying philosophy at Lancaster University before dropping out. Later he attended King's College London and took a degree in philosophy. His most famous work is My Beautiful Laundrett ...more Kureishi was born in London to a Pakistani father and an English mother. His father, Rafiushan, was from a wealthy Madras family, most of whose members moved to Pakistan after the Partition of India in 1947. He came to Britain to study law but soon abandoned his studies. After meeting and marrying Kureishi's mother Audrey, he settled in Bromley, where Kureishi was born and worked at the Pakistan Embassy.

He attended Bromley Technical High School where David Bowie had also been a pupil and after taking his A levels at a local sixth form college, he spent a year studying philosophy at Lancaster University before dropping out. Later he attended King's College London and took a degree in philosophy. His most famous work is My Beautiful Laundrette, a screenplay about a gay Pakistani-British boy growing up in 1980's London for a film directed by Stephen Frears. It won the New York Film Critics Best Screenplay Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay.

His book The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) won the Whitbread Award for the best first novel, and was also made into a BBC television series with a soundtrack by David Bowie. The next year, 1991, saw the release of the feature film entitled London Kills Me; a film written and directed Kureishi.

His novel Intimacy (1998) revolved around the story of a man leaving his wife and two young sons after feeling physically and emotionally rejected by his wife. This created certain controversy as Kureishi himself had recently left his wife and two young sons. It is assumed to be at least semi-autobiographical. In 2000/2001 the novel was loosely adapted to a movie Intimacy by Patrice Chéreau, which won two Bears at the Berlin Film Festival: a Golden Bear for Best Film, and a Silver Bear for Best Actress (Kerry Fox). It was controversial for its unreserved sex scenes. The book was translated into Persian by Niki Karimi in 2005.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours.

Kureishi is married and has a pair of twins and a younger son.

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Average rating: 3.54 · 7,600 ratings · 633 reviews · 52 distinct works

	The Buddha of Suburbia 3.69 avg rating — 3,372 ratings — published 1990 — 40 editions	My rating:
	Intimacy 3.52 avg rating — 1,025 ratings — published 1998 — 23 editions	My rating:
	The Black Album 3.42 avg rating — 733 ratings — published 1995 — 19 editions	My rating:
	Something to Tell You 3.18 avg rating — 550 ratings — published 2010 — 19 editions	My rating:
	Love In A Blue Time 3.43 avg rating — 313 ratings — 7 editions	My rating:
	Gabriel's Gift 3.20 avg rating — 355 ratings — published 2001 — 17 editions	My rating:
	My Beautiful Launderette: And Other Writings 3.65 avg rating — 266 ratings — published 1987 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Body: A Novel 3.41 avg rating — 261 ratings — published 2002 — 12 editions	My rating:
	Midnight All Day 3.38 avg rating — 222 ratings — published 1999 — 8 editions	My rating:
	Intimacy and Midnight All Day: A Novel and Stories 3.50 avg rating — 121 ratings — published 2001 — 5 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by Hanif Kureishi

“At the same time, you have to find the right distance between people. Too close, and they overwhelm you, too far and they abandon you. How to hold them in the right relation?”
― Hanif Kureishi, Intimacy

59 people liked it

“Soon we will be strangers. No, we can never be that. Hurting someone is an act of reluctant intimacy. We will be dangerous acquaintances with a history.”
― Hanif Kureishi, Intimacy

20 people liked it

“Without love, most of life remains concealed. Nothing is as fascinating as love, unfortunately.”
― Hanif Kureishi, Intimacy

16 people liked it

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Hanif Kureishi

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Hanif Kureishi

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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