1. Elif Shafak is best known for her novels, which include The Bastard of Istanbul, The Forty Rules of Love, Three Daughters of Eve and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.
27 Facts About Elif Shafak
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Elif Shafak's works have been translated into 57 languages and have been nominated for several literary awards.
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Elif Shafak has been described by the Financial Times as "Turkey's leading female novelist", with several of her works having been bestsellers in Turkey and internationally.
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Elif Shafak's works have prominently featured the city of Istanbul, and dealt with themes of Eastern and Western culture, roles of women in society, and human rights issues.
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An essayist and contributor to several media outlets, Elif Shafak has advocated for women's rights, minority rights, and freedom of speech.
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Elif Shafak was born in Strasbourg, France, to Nuri Bilgin, a philosopher, and Safak Atayman, who later became a diplomat.
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Elif Shafak says that growing up in a dysfunctional family was difficult, but that growing up in a non-patriarchal environment had a beneficial impact on her.
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Elif Shafak added her mother's first name, Turkish for "dawn", to her own when constructing her pen name at the age of eighteen.
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Elif Shafak spent her teenage years in Madrid, Jordan and Germany.
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Elif Shafak studied an undergraduate degree in international relations at Middle East Technical University, and earned a master's degree in women's studies.
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Elif Shafak released her first novel in English, The Saint of Incipient Insanities, in 2004.
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Elif Shafak was prosecuted in July 2006 on charges of "insulting Turkishness" for discussing the genocide in the novel.
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Elif Shafak was acquitted of these charges in September 2006 at the prosecutor's request.
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Elif Shafak released her twelfth novel The Island of Missing Trees in 2021.
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In 2020, Elif Shafak published How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division.
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Elif Shafak has written for Time, The Guardian, La Repubblica, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Der Spiegel and New Statesman.
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Elif Shafak has been a panellist or commentator on BBC World, Euronews and Al Jazeera English.
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Until 2009 when she transferred to Haberturk, Elif Shafak was a writer for the newspaper Zaman, which was known for its affiliation with Fethullah Gulen.
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In July 2017, Elif Shafak was chosen as a "castaway" on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.
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In January 2024, Elif Shafak found guilty of plagiarism in her book Bit Palas.
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Elif Shafak depicts the city as a melting pot of different cultures and various contradictions.
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Elif Shafak's novels have explored human rights issues, particularly those in Turkey.
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Elif Shafak has been critical of the presidency of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, describing his tenure as leading to increased authoritarianism in Turkey.
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Elif Shafak has spoken and written about various global political trends.
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Elif Shafak signed an open letter in protest against Russian persecution of homosexuals and blasphemy laws before Sochi 2014.
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Elif Shafak had lived in Istanbul, and in the United States before moving to the UK.
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Elif Shafak has lived in London since 2013, but speaks of "carrying Istanbul in her soul".