The Last Word: Hanif Kureishi

Hanif Kureishi with Razia Iqbal Photography by Nick Cunard http://www.nickcunard.co.uk

A superstar author never shy of sharing his opinion, Hanif Kureishi opened the Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival with an evening full of laughter and delight.  The writer was interviewed by BBC special correspondent Razia Iqbal who effortlessly kept her own presence on stage and steered the discussion that gave interesting insights into the way Hanif writes, his life and opinions.

The evening began with Hanif Kureishi reading an excerpt from The Last word, his latest novel about a young English

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Asia House Literature Festival 2014

The Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival is back in May and what a programme they have in store! The Chatterjis Blog will cover the event as official bloggers for the festival which includes writers from over 17 different Asian countries.  In addition to a regular festival format a new series, Extra Words will introduce debut authors from Pakistan, Nepal and Thailand.

The festival officially opens on 6th May with high profile writer, Hanif Kureishi who will talk about his new book The Last Word.  There are a few pre-festival events in April that sound fabulous too.  On 10th April there is an event called Separations discussing what happens when a country suffers from political divisions.  Featuring Korean writers Kyung-sook Shin (2011 Man Asia Prize winner) and Krys Lee and Pakistani writer Qaisra Shahraz whose work focuses on women and partition it should be a lively evening.  Why Do Indians Vote? Democracy in India is another pre-festival

The Penultimate Truth

Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick had a visionary imagination far beyond his generation.  If  Sci-Fi isn’t a genre you’re interested in The Penultimate Truth might be a good book to dip your toe into.

I am a card carrying Sci-Fi fan (you’d never guess looking at me!) as I feel it opens up a parallel universe for the human imagination to explore and wonder, frequently laying the foundation to inspire scientists or technology experts to catch up.  Published in 1964,

The Pursuit of Love

I started reading Nancy Mitford and took an interest in her after hearing about her on the BBC Radio 4 Great Lives programme.  She sounded so wonderfully witty, sharp and unsentimental that I decided to buy a few of her books.

The Pursuit of Love is a as much as finding love as it is about celebrating the love that an extended family can bring. If you are lucky enough

Home by Toni Morrison

Like many bloggers, I am a closet novelist. Ah yes, that theory that we all have within us one great story. I can write! I am interesting! Funny, dramatic, sensational. First I will win the Costa book awards and then Booker to prove I’m not winning just because I am of the gentler sex (ha!)

Then, I read something by Toni Morrison and my god, will she metaphorically dedicatedly superliciously crap all over that fantasy.

McBooks From McDonald’s

I didn’t know the sad statistic that one in three children in the UK do not own a book.  Whether this is due to poverty or parents such as Victoria Beckham who famously does not read is unknown but help is coming from an unlikely corner: McDonald’s.

From now until 7th February

The Death Of The Hardback

Whatever will happen to libraries, to hand me down books and to our colourful bookshelves filled with years of fiction and non-fiction? Probably the same thing that happened to photos when digital cameras became accessible to the masses and to music when Apple launched the Ipod. We will end up with yet another digital library.

The Telegraph reported yesterday that ebook sales in the UK had overtaken hardback books since the launch of the UK Kindle stores last year in August.