Kureishi, Hanif (1954-…), is a British novelist, dramatist, and screenwriter. He became famous in the 1980’s for works that examine tensions and conflicts in the multiracial and multicultural society of the United Kingdom. He shot to prominence in 1986 with his first screenplay, written for the film My Beautiful Laundrette (1986). It was set in the Asian community of London during the 1980’s and became a surprise hit in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Kureishi was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay.
Hanif Kureishi was probably born on Dec. 5, 1954, in the London borough of Bromley. He was the son of a British mother and a father who originally came from Pakistan. Kureishi began writing when he was 12 years old. He studied philosophy at King’s College, University of London, and, after graduating, began writing plays. His first full-length drama, The Mother Country, won the 1980 award of the Thames Television (now the Pearson) Playwrights’ Scheme, established by Thames Television to encourage new writers in the theater. In 1981, he became resident writer at London’s Royal Court Theatre. He won critical acclaim with his play Outskirts (1981), which examines the fate of two white youths from South London who have committed a brutal racial attack.
Kureishi’s screenplays Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987) and London Kills Me (1991) explore the difficulties of human relationships in a racially prejudiced society. They also deal with the demoralizing effect of life in an inner city environment from which art offers a possible chance of escape. These ideas all come together in Kureishi’s satirical novel of racial attitudes, The Buddha of Suburbia (1990), set in southeast London. In 1993, Kureishi’s own adaptation of this novel was televised. His second novel, The Black Album, appeared in 1995. Other works include a collection of stories called Love in a Blue Time (1997), a novella entitled Intimacy (1998), and a screenplay, My Son the Fanatic (1998).
