In the fifth episode of Notes on a Native Son, our guest is Turkish-British writer Elif Shafak. She has published 21 books, 13 of them novels — including “The Forty Rules of Love” and her latest, “There are Rivers in the Sky” — and her work has been translated into 58 languages. Shafak is among those contemporary writers who are both lauded with awards, and deeply beloved by her readers.

Born in Strasbourg, France to Turkish parents, Shafak’s early life was peripatetic, living in both Ankara and Istanbul for long periods of time before moving to London. She tells host Razia Iqbal that her love for Istanbul connects her to James Baldwin, who also lived there on and off during the 1960s and early 1970s. 

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at [email protected]. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.