Close up: Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak is one of the most influential literary voices of our time —a writer who, with sharp intuition and deep human warmth, explores identity, belonging, political unrest, and the quiet forces that shape our lives. In this Close Up, we meet Shafak for a conversation that delves into both her body of work and the person behind the books: on multilingualism and diversity, on Europe’s shifting landscape, on the fragility of democracy, and on literature’s power to create connections across cultures and borders. Through Shafak’s distinctive perspective, we gain new insights into the world we live in and into the stories that bind us together.