Her most recent novel Ustam ve Ben (2013 December) revolves
around the life of Mimar Sinan, the most famous Ottoman architect
and opens up important debates on power, creativity, artistic freedom
and bigotry.
Besides writing fiction, Shafak is an active political commentator,
columnist and public speaker. She is a regular contributor to major
newspapers in Turkey and has been featured in major newspapers and
periodicals, including the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal,
the New York Times, The Economist and The Guardian website. She
has taught at various universities in Turkey, UK and USA. Having
graduated from the program in International Relations at Middle East
Technical University, she holds a Masters degree in Gender and
Women's Studies and a Ph.D. in Political Science. Her thesis on
"Islamic Mysticism and the Circular Understanding of Time" was
awarded by the Social Scientists Institute.
Shafak’s non-fiction covers a wide range of topics, including
multiculturalism, women’s empowerment, cosmopolitan encounters
and the art of coexistence. These essays have been collected in three
books, Med-Cezir (2005), Firarperest (2010) and Şemspare (2012).
Her thoughts on identity have been published as an e-book by
Penguin, titled The Happiness of Blond People.
Elif Shafak holds various social, academic roles. She is an active
social media figure with approximately 1,5 million Twitter followers
http://twitter.com/Elif_Safak. Besides her professional titles Elif
Shafak is a TED Global speaker, founding member of ECFR
(European Council on Foreign Relations); member of Weforum
Global Agenda Council on The Role of Arts in Society; the 2013
judging panel for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the 2014
judging panel for the Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story
Award; Ambassador of Culture Action Europe Campaign, 2010;
Special Envoy for EU-Turkey Cultural Bridges Programme, 2010.
She was awarded the honorary distinction of Chevalier of the Order of
Arts and Letters in 2010.
28
Le portrait magazine