The character arc of Elif Shafak
Born 25 October 1971 in Strasbourg and raised largely by her mother and grandmother, much of it in Ankara. Between then and now sit a childhood spent moving between countries, a first novel in Turkish that won a national prize, a deliberate turn to writing in English as well, the family saga The Bastard of Istanbul, a global readership in more than fifty languages, and a place on the Booker Prize shortlist. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Elif Shafak?
The girl who learned to write in two languages.
She was born in Strasbourg in 1971 and, after her parents parted, was raised largely by her mother and her maternal grandmother, much of it in Ankara, with teenage years spent in Madrid, Jordan and Germany. A childhood in motion gave her the outsider's eye a novelist lives by: always the new girl, always listening, always reading the room in a fresh language. Her grandmother's world of folk belief and story sat beside her mother's diplomatic one, and both would surface later in her books.
She began as a Turkish writer, and a celebrated one. Her first novel Pinhan won the Rumi Prize in 1998, and The Gaze took a national best-novel award soon after. Then in the mid-2000s she did something few established novelists dare: she began writing in English as well, a second language learned rather than born into, and kept both. The Bastard of Istanbul, an Istanbul family saga, reached readers far beyond Türkiye, and The Forty Rules of Love became a beloved bestseller carried by word of mouth.
What runs through all of it is a belief in the power of a story to carry one person into another's life. In 2019, 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and in the years since, The Island of Missing Trees and There Are Rivers in the Sky have kept her among the most widely read writers alive, translated into more than fifty languages. Her line is worth reading because it is still being written, in two tongues at once, and because she chose the harder of them on purpose.
The moments
Elif Shafak's timeline.
The 1970s
Born in Strasbourg
Milestone, and it changed her direction. Born in Strasbourg, France, on 25 October 1971, the start of a life lived across several countries.
Raised by two women
Milestone, and it changed her direction. After her parents parted she was raised largely by her mother and grandmother, much of it in Ankara, moving on to Madrid, Jordan and Germany.
The 1990s
First novel wins Rumi Prize
Milestone. Her first novel Pinhan, written in Turkish, won the Rumi Prize and announced a new voice.
The 2000s
The Gaze is honoured
Milestone. The Gaze took a national best-novel award, building her name at home before any English reader had heard it.
Write in one language, or two
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: write in English as well, taken, or stay only in Turkish. She kept both languages and the choice widened her world: The Bastard of Istanbul and the books after it reached readers in more than fifty tongues.
First novel in English
Milestone, and it changed everything. She published her first novel written in English, choosing to work in a learned second language while keeping her first.
The Bastard of Istanbul
Milestone, and it changed everything. Her Istanbul family saga reached readers far beyond Türkiye and made her a name in English as well as Turkish.
The 2010s
The Forty Rules of Love
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A novel of love and Rumi became a word-of-mouth bestseller, one of the most read books to come out of Türkiye.
A TED talk on stories
Milestone. Her talk on the power of a story to carry one person into another life reached a worldwide audience online.
Shortlisted for the Booker
Milestone, and it changed everything. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, her work set beside the finest in English.
The 2020s
The Island of Missing Trees
Milestone. A novel narrated in part by a fig tree, widely loved and shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award.
Rivers in the Sky
Milestone. A novel following a single drop of water across cultures and centuries, keeping her among the most read writers alive.
A new novel announced
Everyday. Her next novel was announced for later in the year, the line still climbing and still being written.
The line reaches today still writing, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. A new novel is due later this year, and every reader who met a stranger inside one of her books is proof of what a story can do.
In her words
Quotes by Elif Shafak
Stories bring us together, untold stories keep us apart.
The art of storytelling is the art of empathy.
Your turn
Every story draws a unique line.
Hers is five decades in and still adding chapters. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about three minutes.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Elif Shafak, verified 14 September 2026.
- Elif Shafak, official biography, elifsafak.com.tr.
- The Booker Prizes, Elif Shafak and the 2019 shortlist.
- The Bookseller, Viking signs Elif Shafak's new novel, 2026.
- TED, Elif Shafak, The Politics of Fiction, TEDGlobal July 2010.
- Elif Shafak, TEDGlobal talk The Politics of Fiction, July 2010.
- Elif Shafak, on the craft of fiction, widely quoted.