Elif Şafak

Elif Şafak
Born	25 October 1971 (1971-10-25) Strasbourg, France
Occupation	Novelist
Period	1994 – present
Literary movement	Postmodern literature
Notable work(s)	The Gaze The Bastard of Istanbul The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi
www.elifshafak.com

Elif Şafak (sometimes spelled Elif Shafak), (born 1971, Strasbourg, France) is a Turkish writer who writes in both Turkish and English. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages.

Fiction

Shafak has published twelve books, seven of which are novels. She writes in both Turkish and English. Her most recent novel, written in English, The Forty Rules of Love, was published in the U.S. in February 2010 and in the UK by Penguin Books in June 2010. Selling more than 550,000 copies it became a record best-seller in Turkey.^{[citation needed]} Shafak is also a best-selling author in Italy, France and Bulgaria.^{[citation needed]}

Shafak's first novel, Pinhan (The Mystic) was awarded the Rumi Prize in 1998^{[citation needed]}, which is given to the best work in mystical literature in Turkey. Her second novel, Şehrin Aynaları (Mirrors of the City), brings together Jewish and Islamic mysticism against a historical setting in the 17th century Mediterranean. Şhafak's novel Mahrem (The Gaze), earned her the Union of Turkish Writers' Prize in 2000. Her next novel, Bit Palas (The Flea Palace), was a bestseller in Turkey. The book was followed by Med-Cezir, a non-fiction book of essays on gender, sexuality, mental ghettoes, and literature.

Shafak's first novel to be written in English, The Saint of Incipient Insanities, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2004. Her second novel in English, The Bastard of Istanbul, was the bestselling book of 2006 in Turkey.^{[citation needed]} The novel resulted in charges being brought against Shafak for "insulting Turkishness" under Article 301, but the charges were subsequently dismissed.

In July 2010 Shafak gave a speech at TED Oxford on “The Politics of Fiction”. She talked about the role of literature in helping leap over cultural walls and embrace different experiences and argued that fiction can overcome the limits of identity politics. She said, “knowledge that does not take us beyond is far worse than ignorance.”

Her forthcoming novel is set in London in the 1960s and 70s and concerns the experiences of an immigrant family.^{[citation needed]}

Early life

Shafak was born Elif Bilgin in Strasbourg to philosopher Nuri Bilgin and Şafak Atayman who later became a diplomat. When she was a year old her parents separated and Shafak was raised by a single mother. She said that not growing up in a typical patriarchal family had a great impact on her work and writing. She incorporated her mother's first name, which means Dawn, with her own when constructing her pen name.

Shafak spent her teenage years in Madrid and Philadelphia before returning to Turkey. She has also lived in Boston, Michigan, Arizona, Istanbul and London.

Istanbul

Istanbul has always been a central part of Shafak’s writing. According to Shafak, "In Istanbul, you understand, perhaps not intellectually but intuitively, that East and West are ultimately imaginary ideas, ones that can be de-imagined and re-imagined." 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."

In a piece she wrote for the BBC, she 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."

In 2005, Shafak married Turkish journalist Eyüp Can and has two children. She named her daughter after Zelda Fitzgerald and her son after a story by Borges, The Zahir.

Sufism

Shafak first became interested in Sufism as a college student in her early 20s. In The Forty Rules of Love, she tackles the subject with a modern love story between a Jewish-American housewife and a modern Sufi living in Amsterdam. She said in an interview given to the Guardian, "The more you read about Sufism, the more you have to listen. In time I became emotionally attached. When I was younger I wasn't interested in understanding the world. I only wanted to change it, through feminism or nihilism or environmentalism. But the more I read about Sufism the more I unlearned. Because that is what Sufism does to you, it makes you erase what you know, what you are so sure of. And then start thinking again. Not with your mind this time, but with your heart."

Motherhood, feminism and post-feminism

Shafak grew up with two very different models of Turkish motherhood – her modern, working, educated mother and her traditional, religious grandmother.

Her novel, The Forty Rules of Love is concerned with questions of motherhood and selfhood. Ella Rubenstein, the middle-aged American housewife and mother at the heart of the novel, is unhappily married to an unfaithful and neglectful husband, and in thrall to the needs of her children. Her own life and needs and aspirations have been lost along the way, as has her belief in love.

Academic life

Shafak is a political scientist, having graduated from the program in International Relations at Middle East Technical University in Turkey. She holds a Master's degree in Gender and Women’s Studies and a Ph.D. in political science from the same university. Her master’s thesis on Islam, women, and mysticism ("Islamic Mysticism and the Circular Understanding of Time") received an award from the Social Scientists Institute.

Shafak continues to write for publications in Turkey and other countries, including The Guardian, Le Monde, Berliner Zeitung, Dutch Handelsbladt, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Time (Magazine), and has been featured in the U.S. on National Public Radio.

Awards

• Chevalier Des Arts et Lettres^{[citation needed]}
• Turkish Journalists and Writers Foundation "The Art of Coexistence Award-2009"^{[citation needed]}
• International Rising Talent, Women's Forum - Deauville, France 2009^{[citation needed]}
• The Bastard of Istanbul, Long listed for Orange Prize for Fiction, London 2008^{[citation needed]}
• Maria Grazia Cutuli Award - International Journalism Prize, Italy 2006^{[citation needed]}
• The Flea Palace, Short listed for Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, United Kingdom 2006^{[citation needed]}
• The Gaze, Union of Turkish Writers' Best Novel Prize, 2000^{[citation needed]}
• Pinhan, The Great Rumi Award, Turkey 1998^{[citation needed]}

Bibliography

Turkish

• Kem Gözlere Anadolu, 96pp, 1994, Evrensel, ISBN 975-785-729-6
• Pinhan, 224pp, 1997, Metis, ISBN 975-342-297-0
• Şehrin Aynaları, 280pp, 1999, Metis, ISBN 975-342-298-9
• Mahrem, 216pp, 2000, Metis, ISBN 975-342-285-7
• Bit Palas, 361pp, 2002, Metis, ISBN 975-342-354-3
• Araf (translation of The Saint of Incipient Insanities), 352pp, 2004, Metis, ISBN 975-342-465-5
• Beşpeşe, 680pp, 2004, Metis, ISBN 975-342-467-1 (with Murathan Mungan, Faruk Ulay, Celil Oker and Pınar Kür)
• Med-Cezir, 254pp, 2005, Metis, ISBN 975-342-533-3
• Baba ve Piç (translation of The Bastard of Istanbul), 384 pp, 2006, Metis, ISBN 975-342-553-8
• Siyah Süt, 303 pp, 2007, Doğan, ISBN 975-991-531-6
• Aşk, 420 pp, 2009, Doğan, ISBN 978-605-111-107-0
• Kâğıt Helva, 156pp, 2010, Doğan, ISBN 978-605-111-426-2
• İskender, 443pp, 2011, Doğan, ISBN 978-605-09-02518-8

Dutch translations

• Ask, 2009, BerkBoeken, ISBN 9786051111070
• Geheim, 2009, De Geus, ISBN 978-90-445-0712-6
• De heilige van de beginnende waanzin, 2008, De Geus, ISBN 978-90-445-0974-8
• Het luizenpaleis, 2008, De Geus, ISBN 978-90-445-1234-2
• De bastaard van Istanbul, 2007, De Geus, ISBN 978-90-445-0973-1

English translations

• The Saint of Incipient Insanities, 368pp, 2004, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 037-425-357-9
• The Flea Palace (translation of Bit Palas), 260pp, 2005, Marion Boyars, ISBN 071-453-101-4
• The Gaze (translation of Mahrem), 252pp, 2006, Marion Boyars, ISBN 0-7145-3121-9
• The Bastard of Istanbul, 368pp, 2006, Viking Adult, ISBN 067-003-834-2
• The Forty Rules of Love: A Novel of Rumi, 368 pp, 2010, Viking Adult, ISBN 067-002-145-8

French translations

• La Bâtarde d’Istanbul (translation of The Bastard of Istanbul), 320 pp, 2007, Phébus, ISBN 978-2-752-90278-8
• Bonbon Palace (translation of Bit Palas), 464 pp, 2008, Phébus, ISBN 997-8-275-290282-5
• Lait noir (translation of Black Milk), 352 pp, 2009, Phébus, ISBN 978-2-752-90378-5
• Soufi, mon amour (translation of The Forty Rules of Love), 475 pp, 2010, 10/18, ISBN 978-2-264-05406-7

German translations

• Spiegel der Stadt (translation of Şehrin Aynaları from Turkish), Literaturca Verlag 2004, ISBN 393-553-506-6
• Die Heilige des nahenden Irrsinns (translation of The Saint of Incipient Insanities from English ), Eichborn 2005, ISBN 382-185-750-1
• Der Bastard von Istanbul (translation of The Bastard of Istanbul from English), Eichborn 2007, ISBN 382-185-799-4
• Der Bonbonpalast (translation of Bit Palas from Turkish), Eichborn 2008, ISBN 382-185-806-0

Italian translations

• La bastarda di Istanbul, Rizzoli, Milano 2007, ISBN 978-88-17-01726-8

Polish translations

• Pchli Pałac, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2009, ISBN 978-83-08-04332-5
• Bękart ze Stambułu, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2010, ISBN 978-83-08-04417-9
• Lustra miasta, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2011, ISBN 978-83-08-04556-5
• Czarne mleko, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2011, ISBN 978-83-08-04765-1

External links

• Elif Shafak Official Web Site
• Curtis Brown Literary and Talent Agency
• TED Talk: The Politics of Fiction
• CNN Elif Shafak on The Power of Stories at TED
• CNN International Elif Shafak's Istanbul
• The Guardian Elif Shafak: Motherhood is sacred in Turkey
• BBC Radio World Service The Strand Elif Shafak 'Read My Country'
• Novel excerpt in Bosphorus Art Project Quarterly
• Book Preview: Elif Shafak's "Black Milk": On Writing, Motherhood and the Harem Within Qantara.de