Elif Shafak is a novelist and essayist, and currently professor in the department of near-eastern studies at the University of Arizona. She was born in France in 1971 and spent her childhood in Spain. After studying political science, she held teaching positions in Turkey, and the United States. Among her books are The Bastard of Istanbul, The Saint of Incipient Insanities, Bit Palas, Mahrem (which won the Turkish Writers' Association novel-of-the-year award), and Sehrin Aynalari. She has also published reviews in the Economist, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Boston Globe, and the Washington Post. You can find more information about her here.

Recent articles

Istanbul's tribute to the murdered Armenian-Turkish journalist was a model of what Turkey could be, says Elif Shafak. The most personal farewell of all follows, in the eulogy of Rakel Dink, Hrant Dink's wife.

After Orhan Pamuk, another of Turkey's foremost novelists is facing trial for "insulting Turkishness". Elif Shafak warns that the roots of this attack on her human rights lie not just in the murky politics of her country but in a global politics of fear.