Kureishi guest edits 'Today' programme a year after accident

Hanif Kureishi, the author of The Buddha of Suburbia (Faber) and My Beautiful Laundrette (Faber), guest edited the Boxing Day episode of BBC Radio 4’s "Today" programme.

The novelist was seriously injured when he fell in Rome on Boxing Day a year ago. In a series of Substack entries and X (formerly Twitter) posts, which he uploads with the help of his son Carlo, he has documented his experience following the accident, which left him unable to use his arms and legs.

Speaking to the "Today" programme’s Mishal Husain, Kureishi described the ways in which his life has changed following the accident.

"I have to adjust to becoming another sort of person with different relationships with different people," he said. "But I also have to try and identify with others to whom this has also happened, they live lives that they really didn’t think they’d end up living."

He also spoke about enjoying the lack of censorship on Substack and said that readers’ responses to his blog posts have helped him feel less alone during this time. "I communicate with other people, and I try and remember that what’s happened to me is not so uncommon," the author explained. "You realise that every family in the world has experienced death or illness or disability in some form or another, and that they will."

Kureishi has now returned to his home in the UK and continues to publish weekly blog posts.