Elif Shafak
Festival of Ideas
Sunday 5 May 2019 2.30 - 3.30pm
The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts
£15, £9
Media Partner
The most widely read female author in Turkey, award winning British-Turkish novelist, Elif Shafak, discusses gender, politics and identity with journalist and broadcaster, Razia Iqbal.
Writing in both Turkish and English, Elif Shafak has published seventeen books, eleven of which are novels – including the bestselling The Bastard of Istanbul, The Forty Rules of Love, and Three Daughters of Eve. Shafak is also an activist and a political scientist. She holds a degree in International Relations, a Masters in Gender and Women’s Studies and a PhD in Political Science and Political Philosophy. In conversation with broadcaster Razia Iqbal, she discusses the power of storytelling and how contemporary events have inspired her work.
Elif Shafak was born in Turkey and now lives in London. She is one of today’s most influential writers who straddles East and West. Her work has been translated into fifty languages and she has been awarded the prestigious Chevalier des Arts des Lettres. An advocate for women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of speech she also regularly contributes to The New York Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel and La Repubblica. She has been long-listed for the Orange Prize, the Bailey’s Prize and the IMPAC Dublin Award and shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize. She has taught at various universities in Turkey, the UK and the USA, including St Anne's College, Oxford University, where she is an honorary fellow. In 2017, Shafak was chosen by Politico as one of the twelve people who would make the world better.
This event will be followed by a Q&A.
This event will be followed by a book signing in the Burlington Gardens entrance hall, outside Pace Gallery.