Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak was born in Strasbourg in 1971 to Turkish parents. She studied at the University of Ankara and obtained a master’s degree from the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and a doctorate from the Faculty of Political Science.

She made her literary debut in 1994 with the story »Kem Gözlere Anadolu«. Her breakthrough came with »Şehrin Aynaları« (1999; tr: Mirrors of the City), a historical novel about a love affair during the Inquisition, which won the Turkish Writers’ Association Prize. As Shafak also touches on the sore points of Turkish society and makes members of marginalized and tabooed groups of people the protagonists of her works, she was heavily criticized by ultra-nationalists in particular. For example, her thematization of the persecution of Armenians in »The Bastard of Istanbul« (2006) led to violent reactions in Turkey. She was acquitted in a court case for »denigrating Turkishness«, but from then on, she was aware of the danger of self-censorship: »The scissors in your head with which you cut your own words is the worst thing that can happen to a writer.« Elif Shafak’s books, including 13 novels, have been translated into more than 57 languages and have become bestsellers many times over. Her first novel in English, »10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World« (2019), in which a murdered prostitute looks back on her life, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the RSL Ondaatje Prize and won Blackwell’s Book of the Year.

Her most recent novel, »There Are Rivers in the Sky« (2024), interweaves the story of nine-year-old Narin, who grows up in a Yezidi village, with that of Arthur, a boy from Victorian London. Shafak is a public advocate for equality and women’s and LGBTQ+ rights. She has taught at various universities in Turkey, the USA, and the UK, including St. Anne’s College, Oxford University, where she is an Honorary Fellow. She has already been a guest at the Berlin International Literature Festival several times; in 2017 she gave the opening speech.

Elif Shafak lives in London.

Spiegel der Stadt
Literaturca
Frankfurt a. M., 2004
(Ü: Beatrix Caner)

Der Bastard von Istanbul
Kein Aber
Zürich, 2007
(Ü: Juliane Gräbener-Müller)

Die vierzig Geheimnisse der Liebe
Kein Aber
Zürich, 2013
(Ü: Michaela Grabinger)

Ehre
Kein Aber
Zürich, 2014
(Ü: Michaela Grabinger)

Der Geruch des Paradieses
Kein Aber
Zürich, 2016
(Ü: Michaela Grabinger)

Unerhörte Stimmen
Kein und Aber
Zürich, 2020
(Ü: Michaela Grabinger)

Am Himmel die Flüsse
Hanser
München, 2024
(Ü: Michaela Grabinger)