There is a lovely story attributed to Franz Kafka that says as much about the author himself as it does about the art of storytelling.| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
You don’t always remember clearly where and when your path crossed with a favourite book, but the day I started reading Moby Dick, so many moons ago, is still vivid in my mind.| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
Literature, Love and Homemade Gingerbread Cookies| elifshafak.substack.com
Every now and then, I like to look at the drawings of American author Kurt Vonnegut.| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
There is an interesting anecdote about the Russian born American linguist and literary theorist Roman Jakobson who famously could read and write in multiple languages.| elifshafak.substack.com
Happy birthday to one of the authors who shaped, moved and inspired me the most: James Baldwin.| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
There is an interesting anecdote about the Russian born American linguist and literary theorist Roman Jakobson who famously could read and write in multiple languages.| elifshafak.substack.com
‘So much is happening in the world today that I don’t have time to read fiction.| elifshafak.substack.com
Is optimism a gift some of us are born with— and if so, do some people simply start life with a much more sanguine perspective and rosier perception?| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
It was a true pleasure to have this amazing conversation with Junot Diaz on Substack, live and spontaneous, my heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined us.| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
Sometimes at literary festivals and book events people ask me where writers find their inspiration and new ideas.| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
‘So much is happening in the world today that I don’t have time to read fiction.| elifshafak.substack.com
“To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish without knowing what you have written." So said Jean Jacques Rousseau.| elifshafak.substack.com
There is an ancient and universal truth that every storyteller knows, perhaps less intellectually than instinctively: that there is a strong organic connection between memory and story.| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
“To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish without knowing what you have written." So said Jean Jacques Rousseau.| elifshafak.substack.com
Across the centuries, the most famous love story in the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia has been that of Layla and Majnun.| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
“You must have grown up with different stories in Turkey,” said an American scholar to me many years ago.| elifshafak.substack.com
Wounds Into Healing Words| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
This novel is the work of a junior scribe,| elifshafak.substack.com
You are not an isolated entity,| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
A poet, a writer, and a mythical bird.... let me tell you a story from olden times....| Unmapped Storylands with Elif Shafak
Years ago, I was put on trial for “insulting Turkishness” following the publication of my novel The Bastard of Istanbul. My book told the story of two families, one Turkish and one Armenian-American. The former, based in Istanbul and the latter, based in San Francisco. It was also a story abo…| elifshafak.substack.com
