Elif Shafak
The novelist who put Istanbul's backstreets and Rumi's Konya on the world's bookshelves.
Elif Shafak has put Istanbul on bookshelves around the world. Her novels walk through its backstreets, its old family houses and its forgotten cemeteries, and they carry readers to Konya and the world of Rumi too. If you have read her books, you can walk into their pages here.
Who Is Elif Shafak?
Elif Shafak, in Turkish Elif Şafak, was born Elif Bilgin in Strasbourg on 25 October 1971. She grew up with her mother and grandmother in Ankara, and as a teenager lived in Madrid, Jordan and Germany. At eighteen she took her mother’s first name, Şafak, Turkish for “dawn”, as part of her pen name.
She writes in both Turkish and English, and her books are translated into dozens of languages. Today she lives in London, and in December 2025 she was named president of the Royal Society of Literature.
The Istanbul of Elif Shafak
Istanbul runs through almost all of her books, from its backstreets to its old family houses.
The Bastard of Istanbul
Her second novel in English follows two families, one in Istanbul and one in America, and the history that links them, including the Armenian genocide.
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
This Booker-shortlisted novel of 2019 follows the last memories of Leila, a woman who lived on the margins of Istanbul, and her five loyal friends. The book ends at the Cemetery of the Companionless in Kilyos, on the Black Sea, where the city buries those who have no one.
The Architect’s Apprentice
Set in the 16th century, this novel follows a fictional apprentice to Mimar Sinan, the great Ottoman architect, and an elephant from India. You can stand inside the buildings it describes, from the Süleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul to the Selimiye in Edirne.
Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love and Konya
The Forty Rules of Love, Aşk in Turkish, tells the friendship of Rumi and the wandering dervish Shams of Tabriz in 13th-century Konya, alongside a modern love story. In Turkey it became a huge bestseller. Many readers come to Konya because of it, to stand at Rumi’s tomb in the Mevlana Museum.
Our notes on Elif Shafak
- Born25 October 1971, Strasbourg
- Writes inTurkish and English
- Best known forThe Forty Rules of Love, The Bastard of Istanbul
- PlacesIstanbul backstreets, Kilyos, Süleymaniye, Konya
Our suggestion Read The Architect's Apprentice before you come, then let one of our guides walk you through Sinan's Istanbul. If The Forty Rules of Love brought you here, add a day in Konya for Rumi and Shams.
Follow the Books of Elif Shafak With Us
Would you like to walk through the Istanbul of her novels, or follow Rumi and Shams to Konya? We build the day around the books you love. Our Istanbul guides can take you through backstreet neighborhoods and Sinan’s mosques, our Mimar Sinan tour visits the buildings of The Architect’s Apprentice, and our Konya Mevlana tour follows The Forty Rules of Love. For another great Istanbul novelist, read about Orhan Pamuk, and contact us to plan your literary trip.
