Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak is a renowned Turkish-British novelist. She has published 19 books, with 12 of them being novels, and her works have been translated into 56 languages. Shafak has received numerous accolades, including being shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Costa Book Award. She is considered one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Turkish literature.

Elif Shafak was born in Strasbourg, France. She holds a PhD in political science and has taught at various universities in Turkey, the US and the UK. She also holds a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Bard College.

As an author, Shafak began with Pinhan, which won the Rumi Prize in 1998. Her next novel, Mahrem, won the Turkish Authors' Association's Best Novel Award in 1999.

She continued to gain recognition with Bit Palas in 2002, later shortlisted for the Independent Best Foreign Fiction in 2005. Her first English novel, The Saint of Incipient Insanities, was released in 2004.

The Bastard of Istanbul (2006) was long-listed for the Orange Prize and brought significant attention, including legal challenges in Turkey.

The Forty Rules of Love, published in 2009, became a bestseller in Turkey, selling over 200,000 copies. This success was followed by Honour in 2012, nominated for both the Man Asian Literary Prize and the Women's Prize for Fiction.

In 2014, Elif Shafak released The Architect's Apprentice, which was chosen for The Reading Room, a book club created by the Duchess of Cornwall. Her 2017 novel, Three Daughters of Eve, set in Istanbul and Oxford, was widely acclaimed.

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World (2019), which tells the story of an Istanbul sex worker, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. The Island of Missing Trees (2021) was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award and the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

Besides her novels, Shafak's essays, collected in four books, reflect her advocacy for women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and freedom of expression. Additionally, she has contributed to global publications and spoken at TED Global.

Currently, Elif Shafak is an honorary fellow at St Anne's College, Oxford University.

Her personal life includes a move from Istanbul to London in 2013, where Shafak lives with her husband, Turkish journalist Eyüp Can Sağlık and their two children.

Photo credit: www.elifsafak.com.tr