Elif Şafak (Anglicised as Shafak) is a contemporary Turkish writer who has received critical acclaim for both her novels and her non-fiction works. To date, she has written eleven novels, one short story collection, seven works of non-fiction, one book of selected quotations, and one children’s book. Her works have been translated into many languages, and have received national and international recognition. She was born in Strasbourg to intellectual parents, her father Nuri Bilgin working in academia, and her mother Şafak Atayman later becoming a diplomat for the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Her parents divorced when she was very young, and Shafak’s mother emerged as the dominant figure, a detail emphasized by Shafak&…
Citation: Atayurt Fenge, Zeynep. "Elif Shafak". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 May 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14489, accessed 24 October 2021.]
