Asia Lit Fest: Hanif Kureishi – What Happened?
If you don’t know anything until afterwards, ‘What Happened?’ is the writer’s fundamental question, where one starts to seek the words which might surround the baffling and exciting mess of existence. We are what has disturbed us, and we return repeatedly to it, with some hope of mastery at last, saying the unsayable, turning accidents into stories.’ Hanif Kureishi
We are delighted to welcome Hanif Kureishi back to Asia House with What Happened? – the author’s new collection of comic, dark and insightful essays and fiction.
From social media to the ancient classics; from appraisals of David Bowie to Georges Simenon to Keith Jarrett; from ice cream to Netflix: this volume of criticism and short stories is the latest event in a unique body of literature. What Happened? is as much about the fact of Kureishi’s catholic appetite for popular culture as his observations and insights themselves – any new book in his oeuvre represents cause for celebration. Youth, discovery, pop culture, rebellion, sex, art, race and immigrant experience are packed into this thrilling collection, which speaks to Hanif’s abiding creative interests and spirit, and will entertain and provoke in equal measure.
This event includes an audience Q&A. Kureishi will also be signing copies of the book.
About Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi grew up in Kent and studied philosophy at King’s College London. His novels include The Buddha of Suburbia, which won the Whitbread Prize for Best First Novel, The Black Album, Intimacy, The Last Word and The Nothing. His screenplays include My Beautiful Laundrette, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid and Le Week-End. He has also published several collections of short stories. Kureishi has been awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the PEN/Pinter Prize, and is a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. His work has been translated into thirty-six languages. He is professor of Creative Writing at Kingston University.
