Elif Shafak

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Elif Shafak
Elif Shafak photo.jpg
Native name
Elif Şafak
Born (1971-10-25) 25 October 1971 (age 49)
Strasbourg, France
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • essayist
  • academic
  • public speaker
  • women's rights activist
Language
  • English
  • Turkish
  • Spanish
GenreLiterary fiction
Notable works
Website
www.elifshafak.com

Elif Shafak (Turkish: Elif Şafak, pronounced [eˈlif ʃaˈfak]; born 25 October 1971) is a Turkish-British[1] novelist, essayist, academic, public speaker, political scientist[2] and women's rights activist. When publishing in English, her name is anglicized as 'Elif Shafak'.[3]

Shafak writes in Turkish and English, and has published 19 books, 12 of which are novels, including The Bastard of Istanbul, The Forty Rules of Love, Three Daughters of Eve and 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World. Her books have been translated into 55 languages and been nominated for several literary awards, including the Man Asian Literary Prize, Women's Prize for Fiction and Booker Prize. Shafak was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2012.[4] She has been described by The Financial Times as "Turkey's leading female novelist".[5]

Shafak holds a PhD in political science and she has taught at various universities in Turkey, the US and the UK. Shafak is an advocate for women's rights, minority rights, and freedom of speech. She also writes and speaks about a wide range of issues that include Turkish and European politics, democracy, and pluralism. Certain controversial topics addressed in her novels, such as child abuse and the Armenian genocide, have led to scrutiny from authorities in Turkey.[6][7]

She has twice been a TED Global speaker,[8] a member of the Weforum Global Agenda Council on Creative Economy in Davos,[9] a Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature[10] and a founding member of European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR).[11]

Early life[]

Shafak was born in Strasbourg to philosopher Nuri Bilgin and Şafak Atayman, who later became a diplomat. After her parents separated, Shafak returned to Ankara, Turkey, where she was raised by her mother and maternal grandmother.[12] She 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. Having grown up without her father, she met her half-brothers for the first time when she was in her mid-twenties.[13]

Shafak added her mother's first name— Turkish for 'dawn'—to her own when constructing her pen name at the age of eighteen. Shafak spent her teenage years in Madrid, Jordan and Germany.[13]

Works[]

Shafak has published eighteen books, which are a mixture of fiction and nonfiction.[14]

Fiction[]

Shafak's first novel, Pinhan (The Hidden), was awarded the Rumi Prize in 1998, a Turkish literary prize.[15]

Shafak's 1999 novel Mahrem (The Gaze) was awarded "Best Novel" by the Turkish Author's Association in 2000.[16]

Her next novel, Bit Palas (The Flea Palace, 2002), was shortlisted for Independent Best Foreign Fiction in 2005.[17][18]

Shafak released her first novel in English, The Saint of Incipient Insanities, in 2004.[13]

Her second novel in English, The Bastard of Istanbul, was long-listed for the Orange Prize.[19] It addresses the Armenian genocide, which is denied by the Turkish government. Shafak was prosecuted in July 2006 on charges of "insulting Turkishness" (Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code) for discussing the genocide in the novel. Had she been convicted, she would have faced a maximum jail term of three years. The Guardian commented that The Bastard of Istanbul may be the first Turkish novel to address the genocide.[20] She was acquitted of these charges in September 2006 at the prosecutor's request.[21]

Shafak's novel The Forty Rules of Love sold more than 750,000 copies in Turkey,[22] and in France was awarded a Prix ALEF* – Mention Spéciale Littérature Etrangére.[23] It was also nominated for the 2012 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.[24] In 2019, it was listed by the BBC as one of the 100 "most inspiring" novels[25] and one of the "100 novels that shaped our world".[26]

Her 2012 novel Honour, which focuses on an honour killing,[27] was nominated for the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize and 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction,[28][29][30] followed by The Architect’s Apprentice, about Mimar Sinan, in 2014.[13]

Her novel Three Daughters of Eve (2017), set in Istanbul and Oxford from the 1980s to the present day[31] was chosen by London Mayor Sadiq Khan as his favourite book of the year.[32] American writer Siri Hustvedt also praised the book.[33]

Following Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell and Sjon, Shafak was selected as the 2017 writer for the Future Library Project. Her work The Last Taboo is the third part of a collection of 100 literary works that will not be published until 2114.[34]

Shafak's 2019 novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, revolving around the life of an Istanbul sex worker, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.[35] In 2019, Shafak was investigated by Turkish prosecutors for addressing child abuse and sexual violence in her fiction writing.[7]

Shafak released her twelfth novel The Island of Missing Trees in 2021.[36]

Non-fiction[]

Shafak's non-fiction essays in Turkish have been collected in three books: Med-Cezir (2005), Firarperest (2010), Şemspare (2012) and Sanma ki Yalnizsin (2017).[citation needed].

In 2020, Shafak published How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division.[2]

Awards and recognition[]

Book awards[]

Other recognition[]

  • 2016 GTF Awards for Excellence in Promoting Gender Equality;[47]
  • Asian Women of Achievement Awards 2015: Global Empowerment Award;[48]
  • Women To Watch Award, Mediacat & Advertising Age, March 2014;[49]
  • Marka Conference 2010 Award;[50]
  • Turkish Journalists and Writers Foundation "The Art of Coexistence Award, 2009";[51]
  • Maria Grazia Cutuli Award – International Journalism Prize, Italy 2006.[52]

Media[]

Shafak has written for Time,[53] The Guardian,[54] La Repubblica,[55] The New Yorker,[56] The New York Times[57] and Der Spiegel.[58]

At the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2017, Shafak joined a panel discussion for BBC World on "Politics of Fear: The Rebellion of the Forgotten?" with Ursula von der Leyen, Eric Cantor, and Liam Fox.[59] On EuroNews she joined a panel discussion discussing multiculturalism following the murder of Jo Cox with her widower Brendan Cox, US historian Lonnie Bunch, and Belgian deputy prime minister Alexander De Croo.[60] She was also invited onto Al Jazeera English for a discussion with Wole Soyinka.[61]

In July 2017, Elif Shafak was chosen as a ‘castaway’ on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.[62]

Shafak has been a TEDGlobal speaker three times,[63]

"How we see God is a direct reflection of how we see ourselves. If God brings to mind mostly fear and blame, it means there is too much fear and blame welled inside us. If we see God as full of love and compassion, so are we."

Elif Safak, [64][65]

Academic career[]

Shafak holds an undergraduate degree in International Relations, a master's degree in Gender and Women’s Studies, and a Ph.D. in Political Science.[14] She has taught at universities in Turkey.[14] In the United States, she was a fellow at Mount Holyoke College, a visiting professor at the University of Michigan, and a tenured professor at the University of Arizona.[verification needed][66] In the U.K., she held the Weidenfeld Visiting Professorship in Comparative European Literature at St Anne’s College, the University of Oxford for the 2017–2018 academic year.[67]

Areas of interest[]

Istanbul[]

The city of Istanbul has been prominent in Shafak’s writing. She depicts the city as a ‘She-city’ and likens it to an old woman with a young heart who is eternally hungry for new stories and new loves. Shafak has remarked: "Istanbul makes one comprehend, perhaps not intellectually but intuitively, that East and West are ultimately imaginary concepts, and can thereby be de-imagined and re-imagined."[53] In the same essay written for Time Magazine Shafak says: "East and West is no water and oil. They do mix. And in a city like Istanbul they mix intensely, incessantly, amazingly."[53] The New York Times Book Review said of Shafak, "she has a particular genius for depicting backstreet Istanbul, where the myriad cultures of the Ottoman Empire are still in tangled evidence on every family tree."[6]

In a piece she wrote for the BBC, Shafak said, "Istanbul is like a huge, colourful Matrushka – you open it and find another doll inside. You open that, only to see a new doll nesting. It is a hall of mirrors where nothing is quite what it seems. One should be cautious when using categories to talk about Istanbul. If there is one thing the city doesn't like, it is clichés."[68]

Feminism and women's rights[]

A feminist and advocate for gender equality, Shafak grew up with two different models of womanhood—her modern, working, educated mother and her traditional, religious grandmother. Her writing has always addressed minorities and subcultures, such as post-colonialism and post-feminism, and in particular the role of women in society.[69] In an interview with William Skidelsky for The Guardian, she said: "In Turkey, men write and women read. I want to see this change."[70]

Following the birth of her daughter in 2006, Shafak suffered from postpartum depression, a period she addressed in her memoir, Black Milk: On Motherhood, Writing and the Harem Within, which combines fiction with non-fiction. Shafak has commented, "I named this book Black Milk for two reasons. First, it deals with postpartum depression and shows that mother's milk is not always as white and spotless as society likes to think it is. Second, out of that depression I was able to get an inspiration; out of that black milk I was able to develop some sort of ink."[71]

Freedom of speech[]

Shafak is an advocate for women’s rights, minority rights, and freedom of expression. In an English PEN letter to protest against Turkey's Twitter ban she commented:,“Turkey's politicians need to understand that democracy is not solely about getting a majority of votes in the ballot box. Far beyond that, democracy is a culture of inclusiveness, openness, human rights and freedom of speech, for each and every one, regardless of whichever party they might have voted for. It is the realization of the very core of democracy that is lacking in today’s Turkey”.[72] Shafak signed an open letter in protest against Russian persecution of homosexuals and blasphemy laws before Sochi 2014.[73] While taking part in the Free Speech Debate, she commented, "I am more interested in showing the things we have in common as fellow human beings, sharing the same planet and ultimately, the same sorrows and joys rather than adding yet another brick in the imaginary walls erected between cultures/religions/ethnicities."[74]

Global politics[]

Shafak is a speaker and writer on global politics, the dangers of populism, tribalism, and nationalism. Writing for The New Yorker, she said, "Although the Turkish case is in some ways uniquely depressing, it is part of a much larger trend. Wave after wave of nationalism, isolationism, and tribalism have hit the shores of countries across Europe, and they have reached the United States. Jingoism and xenophobia are on the rise. It is an Age of Angst—and it is a short step from angst to anger and from anger to aggression."[56]

Mysticism, East and West[]

Shafak blends Eastern and Western ways of storytelling, and blends oral and written culture. In The Washington Post, Ron Charles says, "Shafak speaks in a multivalent voice that captures the roiling tides of diverse cultures. And, of course, as readers know from her previous novels 'The Architect’s Apprentice' and 'The Bastard of Istanbul,' it helps that she’s a terrifically engaging storyteller."[75] Vogue says, "Elif Shafak has been building a body of work that needles her country’s historical amnesia."[citation needed]

Personal life[]

Shafak has lived in Istanbul, and in the United States—in Boston, Michigan, and Arizona—before moving to the UK.[76] Shafak has lived in London since 2013,[13][77] but speaks of "carrying Istanbul in her soul."[78]

Shafak is married to the Turkish journalist Eyüp Can Sağlık, a former editor of the newspaper Radikal, with whom she has a daughter and a son.[77][79] In 2017, Shafak came out as bisexual.[80]

Bibliography[]

Turkish English
Name Year Publisher ISBN Name Year Publisher ISBN
Kem Gözlere Anadolu 1994 Evrensel 9789757837299
Pinhan 1997 Metis 975-342-297-0
Şehrin Aynaları 1999 Metis 975-342-298-9
Mahrem 2000 Metis 975-342-285-7 The Gaze 2006 Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd 978-0714531212
Bit Palas 2002 Metis 975-342-354-3 The Flea Palace 2007 Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd 978 0714531205
Araf 2004 Metis 978-975-342-465-3 The Saint of Incipient Insanities 2004 Farrar, Straus and Giroux 0-374-25357-9
Beşpeşe (with Murathan Mungan, Faruk Ulay, Celil Oker and Pınar Kür) 2004 Metis 975-342-467-1
Med-Cezir 2005 Metis 975-342-533-3
Baba ve Piç 2006 Metis 978-975-342-553-7 The Bastard of Istanbul 2007 Viking 0-670-03834-2
Siyah Süt 2007 Doğan 975-991-531-6 Black Milk: On Writing, Motherhood, and the Harem Within 2011 Viking 0-670-02264-0
Aşk 2009 Doğan 978-605-111-107-0 The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi 2010 Viking 0-670-02145-8
Kâğıt Helva 2010 Doğan 978-605-111-426-2
Firarperest 2010 Doğan 978-605-111-902-1
The Happiness of Blond People: A Personal Meditation on the Dangers of Identity 2011 Penguin 9780670921768
İskender 2011 Doğan 978-605-090-251-8 Honour 2012 Viking 0-670-92115-7
Şemspare 2012 Doğan 978-605-090-799-5
Ustam ve Ben 2013 Doğan 978-605-09-1803-8 The Architect's Apprentice 2014 Viking 978-024-100-491-3
Sakız Sardunya 2014 Doğan 978-605-09-2291-2
Havva'nın Üç Kızı 2016 Doğan 978-605-09-3537-0 Three Daughters of Eve 2016 Viking 978-024-128-804-7
Sanma ki Yalnızsın 2018 Doğan 978-605-095-146-2
On Dakika Otuz Sekiz Saniye 2018 Doğan 978-605-096-309-0 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World 2019 Viking 978-024-129-386-7
Aşkın Kırk Kuralı (compilation based on Aşk) 2019 Doğan Novus 978-605-095-864-5
  Novel
  Essay / Anthology
  Autobiography
  Children's book
  Short story

NOTE: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd was bought out by Viking in 2011.

References[]

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  3. ^ Her name is spelled Shafak (with the digraph ⟨sh⟩ in place of the ⟨ş⟩) on her books published in English, including the Penguin Books edition of "The Forty Rules of Love."
  4. ^ "Elif Şafak honored at French Embassy". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Small talk: Elif Shafak". www.ft.com. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Freely, Maureen (13 August 2006). "Writers on Trial". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Flood, Alison (31 May 2019). "Turkey puts novelists including Elif Shafak under investigation". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
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External links[]

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