Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist whose work has been translated into fifty-five languages. She is a self-described “citizen of the world” and has become a notable public intellectual and human rights activist. Elif's latest novel, There are Rivers in the Sky, stretches across millennia, following a single drop of water. This week, Michael chats with Elif about her new book and why she is not just a storyteller but a silence teller, too.

Reading list:

The Bastard of Istanbul, Elif Shafak, 2006

The Forty Rules of Love, Elif Shafak, 2009

Honour, Elif Shafak, 2011

10 Minutes 38 Seconds In this Strange World, Elif Shafak, 2019

The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak, 2021

There are Rivers in the Sky, Elif Shafak, 2024

Orlando: A Biography, Virginia Woolf, 1928

When Cops Are Criminals, Veronica Gorrie, 2024

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

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Guest: Elif Shafak

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