Elif Shafak’s fiction draws readers across borders, generations and voices. Fans who love the way her stories hold a wide world inside an intimate life have good reason to hear her speak: her festival conversations bring the novelist’s concern with memory, belonging and unheard experience into the room.
Quick facts
Best known for
The Forty Rules of Love, The Island of Missing Trees and There Are Rivers in the Sky
Genre or subject
Literary fiction, history, identity and freedom of expression
Shafak is a British-Turkish novelist and storyteller whose work circulates internationally in translation. Alongside her fiction, she advocates freedom of expression, connecting the act of telling a story with the right to be heard.
Her literary recognition includes a Booker Prize shortlisting for 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, a Women’s Prize shortlisting for The Island of Missing Trees and the Halldór Laxness International Literature Prize for her contribution to storytelling. Readers can follow that career through very different books without losing the interest in human lives that connects them.
Her latest novel, In One Brief Moment All Eternity, was published by Penguin in October 2026. Gustave Flaubert is its central figure, bringing the working life of another writer into her fiction.
Where to start with their books
The Forty Rules of Love
Ella encounters a manuscript about the Sufi poets Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, and begins a journey towards its author. The novel moves between her contemporary life and the older story, making it an entry point for readers drawn to love and spiritual connection.
The Island of Missing Trees
A love story in divided Cyprus reaches into a later generation’s life in London. Its fig tree and family memories give readers a way into Shafak’s interest in what people inherit, including the stories they have not been told.
There Are Rivers in the Sky
Three lives beside the Thames and Tigris are connected through time and the influence of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Pick this for a broad historical canvas and the movement of memory, myth and water between lives.
Festival appearances
For tickets, use the host festival’s official box office. Confirm the date, venue and access details before paying.
Hay’s Voices That Will Not Be Silenced brought Shafak and Rabih Alameddine into conversation with Daniel Hahn on 31 May at the Discovery Stage. They discussed voices, social justice and marginalised people in fiction, with her river novel among the books considered.
Where to see them next
No 2027 appearances announced yet. Check the festival guides for programme dates.
Plan your trip
Choose one question from the novel that stayed with you: a voice you could not forget, a journey, or a relationship you wanted to understand. It gives a conversation with a fellow reader a natural beginning over coffee, without having to compare everything either of you has read.
If the discussion touches a book your companion has not finished, agree beforehand how much of the story to reveal afterwards. For an evening visit, leave room in the plan for a meal and a relaxed journey home; the festival guides below help with the practical side.
The 2026 programmes featured Elif Shafak at Cheltenham Literature Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival, Hay Festival, Henley Literary Festival; follow those guides for event information and practical visit details.
What was the Hay conversation about?
Use the festival links on Elif Shafak’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
Must I have read all Shafak’s novels before going?
One book that has stayed with you is plenty to bring to a conversation. The reading suggestions offer several entry points, so you can choose a story by the kind of world or relationship you enjoy exploring.
Where should I book to see Shafak?
Use the festival’s official box office for the session you want. Once you have a ticket, keep the venue details with your travel plans and contact the organiser directly about any access support you need.
Can I make a Shafak event part of a trip with another reader?
Use the festival links on Elif Shafak’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
