Sarfraz Manzoor (; born 9 June 1971) is a British journalist, documentary maker, broadcaster, and screenwriter of Pakistani origin. He is a regular contributor to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', presenter of documentaries on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, and a cultural commentator who appears on programmes such as '' Newsnight Review'' and '' Saturday Review''. His first book, ''Greetings from Bury Park'', was published in 2007.

Early life and education

Manzoor was born in

Lyallpur Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

(now

Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...

), the second largest city in Punjab Province and the third largest in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. He emigrated to Britain in May 1974 with his mother, older brother and sister to join their father, Mohammed Manzoor, who had left Pakistan in 1963 to find work.Muneeza Shamsi
"Of Fathers and Sons"
''Newsline'', 1 December 2007 Manzoor attended Maidenhall Infants and Primary Schools in the Bury Park district of

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

. In the autumn of 1979, Manzoor's family moved to the

Marsh Farm Marsh Farm is a suburb of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, near to Leagrave and Limbury, mainly of council and social housing. The area is bounded by the edge of Luton to the north, Bramingham Road to the south, Spinney Wood and the path from the ...

estate and he attended Wauluds Primary School.Sarfraz Manzoo
"Is Luton the new Paris? No, but the birds are fit"
''The Observer'', 24 May 2009 In the autumn of 1982 he began his studies at Lea Manor High School. After completing

A levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

Luton Sixth Form College Luton Sixth Form College is a sixth form college in the Barnfield, Luton, Barnfield area of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. History In 1904 Luton Council acquired the Modern School, which was a mixed-sex secondary school. This school moved into ...

, Manzoor left Luton to study Economics and Politics at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. Three days before Manzoor turned 24 in 1995, his father died.

Career

Manzoor worked for six years at

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

, as a producer and reporter on ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

''Muneeza Shamsi
"Interview: Sarfraz Manzoor"
''Newsline'', 1 December 2007 interviewing such figures as

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often Brian Wilson is a genius, called a genius for his novel approaches to pop compositio ...

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

Don McCullin Sir Donald McCullin (born 9 October 1935) is a British photojournalist, particularly recognised for his war photography and images of urban strife. His career, which began in 1959, has specialised in examining the Social documentary photograph ...

and

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

. He left ''Channel 4 News'' and joined

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

as a deputy

commissioning editor In book publishing, a commissioning editor is essentially a buyer. It is the job of the commissioning editor to advise the publishing house on which books to publish. Usually the actual decision of whether to contract a book is taken by a senior m ...

before signing a contract with

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

for his first book. Manzoor scripted ''The Great British Asian Invasion'' for Channel 4 and wrote and directed ''Death of a Porn Star'' for the same network, which told the tragic story of the life and death of

Lolo Ferrari Lolo Ferrari (born Ève Valois; 9 February 1963 – 5 March 2000) was a French dancer, actress, and singer billed as "the woman with the largest breast implants in the world". She entered the international limelight in 1995, appearing in the F ...

. He presented a documentary for Channel 4 on the 2006 Guardian Hay Book Festival ''On the Way to Hay'' in which he interviewed Monica Ali and

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English writer, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Se ...

. In March 2005, Manzoor wrote and presented ''Luton Actually'', a documentary for BBC 2. The programme, a personal and affectionate portrait of his hometown, featured Manzoor tracing his family's journey from Pakistan to Luton. In 2007, he published ''Greetings from Bury Park'', a memoir that detailed his life growing up in Luton and the twin impacts upon his life of the death of his father in 1995 and the music and especially the lyrics of

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

. Manzoor had admired the United States, wishing to live there, but after the experience of witnessing the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

in 2001 he came to view Britain as being his true home. Manzoor has written and presented documentaries for

. These include ''From Luton Streets to Jersey Shores'' where he travelled to

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

to examine the connections between Springsteen's New Jersey and Manzoor's hometown of Luton; ''Don't Call Me Asian'' which examined the rise in British Indians and

Pakistanis Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

defining themselves by their religion and nationality rather than simply as

British Asians British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...

; ''A Class Apart'' which explored the consequences of faith schools on social cohesion; ''Taking the Cricket Test'' which saw Manzoor follow the Pakistan cricket team across England during the 2006 test series; a documentary profile of

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

, who was interviewed; a programme on matrimonial websites in August 2009; a three part series ''Whatever Happened to the Working Class?'' in February 2009 and a programme which told the story of the

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

album ''

Wonderwall Music ''Wonderwall Music'' is the debut solo album by the English musician George Harrison and the soundtrack to the 1968 film ''Wonderwall (film), Wonderwall'', directed by Joe Massot. Released in November 1968, it was the first solo album by a membe ...

'' in March 2009. Manzoor contributed an article ''White Girls'' to the literary quarterly ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'', issue 112. Manzoor has written for ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', '' Prospect'', ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', '' Uncut'', ''

Marie Claire ''Marie Claire'' (stylized in all lowercase; ) is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on women aro ...

'' and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. Manzoor was appointed as Chancellor of the

University of Bedfordshire The University of Bedfordshire is a Public university, public research university with campuses in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England. The university has roots in further and higher education from 1882: it gained university status in 19 ...

in 2023.

Personal life

In 2010, Manzoor married Bridget, a speech and language therapist, a union initially disapproved of by his mother and siblings because she was a non-Muslim white woman. The couple have two children.

Works

Non-fiction: * ''Greetings from Bury Park'', or ''Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock 'n' Roll'' (2007), , memoirs * ''They'', or ''They: What Muslims and Non-Muslims Get Wrong About Each Other'' (2021), , society

Film

A film inspired by his life, '' Blinded by the Light'', was released in August 2019. Manzoor co-wrote the script, with

Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Kaur Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a Kenyan-born British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme in her work showcases the trials of Indian women residing ...

and Paul Mayeda Berges. It is based on Manzoor's memoir ''Greetings from Bury Park''.

References

External links

*
"Sarfraz Manzoor"
BBC – Radio 4 People page , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Manzoor, Sarfraz 1971 births Living people Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the University of Salford British male journalists English people of Pakistani descent Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Pakistani male journalists People from Faisalabad People associated with the University of Bedfordshire Heads of universities and colleges in England