A fall left Hanif Kureishi cruelly paralysed – now the writer is telling us the shocking story from his hospital bed in Rome

From a hospital bed in Italy, a titan of British literature is delivering quite a story. Since a catastrophic Boxing Day fall in Rome left him unable to move his arms or legs, Hanif Kureishi has been documenting his recovery in remarkable dispatches on Twitter. “Since I became a vegetable, I have never been so busy,” begins one report, indicating that the author of cult classic The Buddha of Suburbia has not lost his knack for a sharp line.  

Salman Rushdie, Stephen Frears and Jim Broadbent are among those sending well wishes to the Bromley-born author, whose 1985 film My Beautiful Laundrette won him an Oscar nomination and made a star of Daniel Day-Lewis. At the start of the year, Kureishi told his followers that, moments after watching Mo Salah score against Aston Villa on 26 December, he suddenly became dizzy, before waking up in a pool of blood. His wife Isabella, Kureishi says, saved his life – but the author now cannot “scratch my nose, make a phone call or feed myself”.  

Most distressing for the writer, though, is his inability to hold a pen. One of his daily updates, typed on Kureishi’s behalf by his wife and son Carlos, begins with a description of the pleasure of using a fountain pen. “I’m sure many painters, writers, architects, sports people and gardeners love their tools, and see their tools as an extension of their body. I hope one day I will be able to go back to using my own precious and beloved instruments,” he wrote on 8 January.  

Salman Rushdie, who lost the use of one hand and one eye in a brutal on-stage attack last year, has been writing to Kureishi every day. The Midnight’s Children author told The Independent that Kureishi is “like the younger brother I never had”.   

“I’m here for him always, as he always has been there for me. Hopefully he will be his outrageous, mischievous self again soon,” he said.   

In their exchanges, Rushdie has been “encouraging patience”. In his most recent update, Kureshi described Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children in 1981 as “like when Pete Townsend or Eric Clapton saw Jimi Hendrix play for the first time, or when The Beatles met Bob Dylan”.   

The great and good of the global arts community have similarly rallied around Kureishi, who was awarded a CBE in 2009. Stephen Frears, the director of Kureishi’s classic My Beautiful Laundrette, about an interracial gay relationship during the Thatcher era, told The Independent:  “It’s devastating what’s happened. He’s being so brave and courageous. Everyone is hoping that full recovery is possible. It’s extraordinary that the two best Asian writers are incapacitated – him and Salman Rushdie.

open image in gallery

“Hanif was the first brilliant Asian writer to be actually born in England and achieve success. His writing is full of irony and wit. He sees things in a remarkably unique way; his stories change lives and perceptions.”  

Robert McCrum, the writer and former editor-in-chief of publisher Faber and Faber, said that Kureishi is “a fearless artist and one who is not afraid to throw the occasional brick”.  

The Buddha of Suburbia, described by McCrum as “an absolute sensation” when it was published in 1990, “gave a new generation a story for their times, and articulated his coming-of-age experience with astounding brio”. Reflecting on the book, McCrum added that “The Buddha of Suburbia helped renew British fiction in the final years of the last century – here was a British Asian discovering, and writing about, a world that was completely new.”    

“He loves to make mischief, but I think his greatest achievement is that he is both very serious and very funny, a committed artist and a great entertainer. In my experience, it is very rare for a writer to achieve both high and low acclaim,” said McCrum.  

The Oscar-winning actor Jim Broadbent starred in Kureishi’s 2013 film Le Week-End, about a couple who go to Paris to celebrate their 30^th wedding anniversary. It was directed by the late Roger Michell, with whom Kureishi had an enduring creative partnership for over two decades.  

Broadbent told The Independent: “Hanif is such a fine writer – honest, subtle, precise and very funny – and that is the best sort of challenge for an actor. Working on Le-Weekend with his long-time collaborator Roger Michell was a huge thrill and like all the other actors who have been lucky enough to have given voice to his words, I trust and hope that I can do so again.” 

Kureishi’s arresting style is characterised by a fearless approach to writing about sex and intimacy, seen in novels such as Intimacy and The Black Album. Anne Reid, the star of the 2003 film The Mother, in which a woman embarks on an affair with a younger man (played by Daniel Craig), remembered Kureishi as “incredibly kind” to her when they travelled to Rome together for a screening of the film.  

“He really looked after me while we were there, and on both of the journeys, there and back… just so caring. I send him my love and pray he will make a complete recovery,” Reid said.  

Dancer and choreographer Akram Khan, who collaborated with Kureishi on shows such as ma and A God of Small Tales, described Kureishi as “an extraordinary thinker and storyteller”.   

open image in gallery

“I remember that he was one of the first writers that I came across who was not only a person of colour, but a storyteller who dared to open and examine themes that were taboo at that time,” said Khan.  

“Working with him on A God of Small Tales taught me so much about the importance of not going around complex issues, but instead going straight to the point.”  

In the candid and unsparing hospital letters, Kureishi has maintained his sense of humour – one is signed “in these s****y times, your loving cripple, Hanif” – while offering a generous insight into his writing life. Kureishi revealed that he first began to find his voice after reading Ray Bradbury’s book of essays, Zen in the Art of Writing, which recommends that “you must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you”.   

Kureishi’s most recent update featured an apology for reneging on a promise of “revelations regarding sex and drugs” – before adding that “there will be filth in abundance to come”.