23/06/2026
A few weeks ago, I got to see two of my favourite people and favourite writers, Mohammed Hanif and Mirza Waheed in conversation at wonderful Ibraaz (what a superb space!) It's always so deeply affirming to hear either of them speaking, they're so brilliant and so sane, you remember for a moment that you are not the mad one, the world is. I haven't yet started Waheed's new novel, Maryam & Son, about a woman left to deal with the fallout of her possibly radicalised son going missing, I expect it to be as emotionally complex and nuanced as the rest of his captivating work. Hanif's new novel, Rebel English Academy, is an utterly sensational political satire that brings to mind Graham Greene. Though it's actually really taut and fast-paced, I read it so slowly because every sentence blazes, every line is a little gr***de; subversive, insightful, darkly, bitingly funny, a hard-won humour that sees the world just as it is, with all its absurdity and terror and beauty and hope. I have not added that halo effect to Mohammed Hanif's head in this photo, I swear, he just has one all by himself.
