Hanif Kureishi was born in London on 5 December 1954 to a Pakistani father and an English mother. Since his first works, he shows a deep introspective insight in narrating urban life experiences of multiculturalism, syncretism and cross-fertilization. His novels, in which themes like minorities marginalization and relationships in new multi-ethnic societies are dealt with, cast a gentle, ironic, and yet extremely analytical glance at the complex dynamics of present times. In this regard, exemplary novels are The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) and, more recently, The Mother (2003). After studying philosophy at the King’s College of London, Kureishi begins his career as an esteemed playwright. In 1980 he makes his debut in theatre with The King and Me and The Mother Country, and later with Outskirts and Borderline. The great international success arrives with cinema, when the screenplay of My Beautiful Laundrette (directed by Stephen Frears in 1984) wins an Academy Award nomination. Subsequently, the film Intimacy, an adaptation of his novel brought to the big screen by Patrice Chéreau, wins the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, and the film Venus (2006) earns Peter O’Toole a nomination for both Golden Globe and Academy Awards. His most recent novel is The Last Word (2013). In Italy his books are published by Bompiani.