Quick Info
| Profession | Novelist |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British-Turkish |
| Date of Birth | 25/10/1971 |
| Age | 54 years |
| Birthplace | Strasbourg, France |
| Zodiac Sign | Scorpio |
Latest News about Elif Shafak
Her new novel, In One Brief Moment All Eternity, was scheduled for publication on 15 October 2026 in hardback, e-book, and audiobook formats. The book is a fictionalised portrait of Gustave Flaubert told through the women who shaped his life and work, and it moves from 19th-century France to Istanbul, Egypt, and Beirut. Viking acquired the UK and Commonwealth rights, and John Freeman at Knopf secured the US rights.
Elif Shafak was named the winner of the Helena Vaz da Silva European Award for Raising Public Awareness on Cultural Heritage 2026, presented by Europa Nostra. The award recognises her storytelling about Europe's cultural heritage and her call for democracy, solidarity, and cultural diversity. The ceremony is scheduled for 5 November 2026 at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
Viking acquired rights to In One Brief Moment All Eternity, the novel Shafak announced earlier in the year. Her publisher described the work as a meditation on creativity during political crisis and war. The novel is also reported to have been nominated for Author of the Year at The British Book Awards 2026.
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Bio/Wiki
| Summary | Elif Shafak is a British-Turkish novelist and storyteller who writes in both Turkish and English. Her books have been translated into dozens of languages, and her fiction often explores minority, immigrant, and women's experiences, along with Sufism, history, and cultural politics. |
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| Early Life | Born in Strasbourg in 1971, she spent her childhood and youth in several cities, including Madrid, Amman, and Cologne. |
Educational Qualification(s)
| Doctorate | PhD in political science |
|---|---|
| Honorary Doctorate | Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Bard College |
| Education | Middle East Technical University |
Personal Life
| Citizenship Note | Based in the United Kingdom after leaving Turkey |
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Family
| Parents | Nuri Bilgin (professor of social psychology) and Şafak Atayman (later a diplomat) |
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Career
| Writing | Has published 21 books, 13 of them novels, with works translated into 58 languages. |
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| Academia | Has taught at universities in Turkey, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and is an honorary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. |
| Royal Society of Literature | Named president of the Royal Society of Literature in December 2025, succeeding Bernardine Evaristo. |
| Public Engagement | Founding member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and a twice-invited TED Global speaker. |
| Awards and Recognition |
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Some Lesser Known Facts
| 1. Her first novel, Pinhan (The Sufi), won the Rumi Prize in 1998 for mystical literature in Turkey. | |
| 2. She spent her teenage years in Madrid before returning to Turkey. | |
| 3. Her novel The Forty Rules of Love was chosen by the BBC among the 100 novels that shaped the world. | |
| 4. She was chosen by Politico in 2017 as one of twelve people who would make the world better. |
