Elif Shafak
Award-winning novelist | Author of "The Island of Missing Trees"
About
Elif Shafak is a British-Turkish novelist who has published 21 books, translated into 58 languages. Her novel "The Island of Missing Trees" was shortlisted for the Women's Prize.
Elif advocates for women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and freedom of expression. She writes about identity, migration, and belonging.
Her keynotes explore storytelling, cultural bridges, and literature's power to create empathy across divisions.
Featured3 with video
If trees could speak
How do we tell stories of humanity and nature at a time when our planet is burning? Novelist Elif Shafak invites us to listen to the trees, whose experience of time, stillness and impermanence is utterly different from our own. "Hidden inside [their] story is the past and the future of humanity," she says.
Elif Shafak at Intelligence Squared 2026
Elif Shafak at How To Academy 2024
Elif Shafak at Hay Festival 2024
Elif Shafak at Hay Festival 2023
Elif Shafak at Hay Festival 2022
Elif Shafak at How To Academy 2020
Elif Shafak at Hay Festival 2019
Elif Shafak at Hay Festival 2018
Elif Shafak at The Marketing Society Annual Conference 2015
| Event | Year | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence Squared | 2026 | |
| How To Academy×2 | 2024, 2020 | |
| Hay Festival×5 | 2024, 2023, 2022, 2019, 2018 | |
| Countdown 2020 | 2020 | 🇬🇧Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
| TEDGlobal>NYC 2017 | 2017 | 🇺🇸New York, United States |
| The Marketing Society Annual Conference | 2015 | |
| TEDGlobal | 2010 | 🇬🇧Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
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