Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak, the daughter of a diplomat, was born in Strasbourg in 1971. She spent her childhood in Spain, lived in Istanbul and the USA, and is one of Turkey's most prominent authors, recognized as the most distinguished woman in the country's contemporary literature. She has written eight novels and several essays, and contributes articles to Turkish, English, and American newspapers. Her books, influenced by European themes and contemporary issues—often masterfully combined with elements of history and tradition—have set sales records in Turkey, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Bulgaria, and have been translated into more than 30 languages. For her novel "The Forty Rules of Love," she was honored in 2011 in France with the ALEF Award - Special Mention for a Foreign Literary Book and has been awarded the title of Chevalier dans l'Ordre National des Arts et des Lettres. She currently lives with her husband and two children, dividing her time between London and Istanbul.