Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This event, originally titled 'Shattered', took place on 14 June 2025. The information below is correct as of the publication date.
After a devastating fall in Rome, Hanif Kureishi was left immobile. From his hospital bed, he began to dictate powerful reflections on illness, identity, love, and writing. Shattered is the result: An odyssey of survival which presents an intimate chronicle of transformation. In conversation with Monisha Rajesh at JLF London, Kureishi took us on an unexpected journey of healing through language.
This event took place as part of JLF London 2025.
About JLF London:
JLF London returned to the British Library in 2025 for its 12th edition, with an exciting line-up of speakers and sessions. JLF London embodies the multi-faceted spirit of the mother festival - the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival, with its unique celebration of books and ideas, inclusiveness and sense of community. Like all JLF international editions, the London programme brings alive South Asia’s unique multilingual literary heritage and blends it with local literary highlights.
To join more online and in person events visit our website: events.bl.uk
Discover more of our past events at our playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVRvouzCZmFeI-PSlsaLHzJwtEkKshATx&si=94-9DoaNCNTFAyQc
Speaker Bios:
Hanif Kureishi is a novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. In addition to the memoir, Shattered, he is the author of nine novels, including The Buddha of Suburbia (winner of the Whitbread Award for Best First Novel), The Black Album, Intimacy, and The Nothing. His screenplay of My Beautiful Laundrette was nominated for an Oscar, and he is the recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize and the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Monisha Rajesh is an author and journalist whose writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, the Financial Times, The Guardian and The New York Times. Her first book Around India in 80 Trains was one of The Independent’s top ten books on India. Her second book, Around the World in 80 Trains won the National Geographic Traveller Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Award. Her third book, Epic Train Journeys was shortlisted for the National Geographic Traveller Photography Book of the Year, and her new book, Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train will be published by Bloomsbury in August 2025. In 2023 she was named in the Condé Nast Traveller Women Who Travel Power List.
The British Library is a charity. Your support helps us open up a world of knowledge and inspiration for everyone. Donate today: support.bl.uk/Donate
This event, originally titled 'Shattered', took place on 14 June 2025. The information below is correct as of the publication date.
After a devastating fall in Rome, Hanif Kureishi was left immobile. From his hospital bed, he began to dictate powerful reflections on illness, identity, love, and writing. Shattered is the result: An odyssey of survival which presents an intimate chronicle of transformation. In conversation with Monisha Rajesh at JLF London, Kureishi took us on an unexpected journey of healing through language.
This event took place as part of JLF London 2025.
About JLF London:
JLF London returned to the British Library in 2025 for its 12th edition, with an exciting line-up of speakers and sessions. JLF London embodies the multi-faceted spirit of the mother festival - the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival, with its unique celebration of books and ideas, inclusiveness and sense of community. Like all JLF international editions, the London programme brings alive South Asia’s unique multilingual literary heritage and blends it with local literary highlights.
To join more online and in person events visit our website: events.bl.uk
Discover more of our past events at our playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVRvouzCZmFeI-PSlsaLHzJwtEkKshATx&si=94-9DoaNCNTFAyQc
Speaker Bios:
Hanif Kureishi is a novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. In addition to the memoir, Shattered, he is the author of nine novels, including The Buddha of Suburbia (winner of the Whitbread Award for Best First Novel), The Black Album, Intimacy, and The Nothing. His screenplay of My Beautiful Laundrette was nominated for an Oscar, and he is the recipient of the PEN Pinter Prize and the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Monisha Rajesh is an author and journalist whose writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, the Financial Times, The Guardian and The New York Times. Her first book Around India in 80 Trains was one of The Independent’s top ten books on India. Her second book, Around the World in 80 Trains won the National Geographic Traveller Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Award. Her third book, Epic Train Journeys was shortlisted for the National Geographic Traveller Photography Book of the Year, and her new book, Moonlight Express: Around the World by Night Train will be published by Bloomsbury in August 2025. In 2023 she was named in the Condé Nast Traveller Women Who Travel Power List.
The British Library is a charity. Your support helps us open up a world of knowledge and inspiration for everyone. Donate today: support.bl.uk/Donate
