Why Home Lives in the Imagination | with Turkish Novelist Elif Shafak

For Turkish-British novelist Elif Shafak, home isn't a physical place; it lives in the stories we tell.

Elif is an award-winning novelist, celebrated for writing about the lives of people on the margins. She has spent much of her life moving between countries, cultures and languages. Yet she feels most at home in the world of books, stories and imagination – a place she calls ‘Storyland’.

In this conversation, we talk about the loneliness that first drew her to stories, and what it means to write in a language that isn’t your mother tongue.

She also tells me about being forced to write with her right hand as a child, her experience of postpartum depression, and why it’s so important that we talk openly about our mental health.

This is a conversation about stories, exile and belonging – and how home can be found beyond the physical.

Guest Info:

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist, whose work has been translated into fifty-eight languages. Her new novel IN ONE BRIEF MOMENT ALL ETERNITY is published on 15 October 2026 and available in all good bookshops. Her previous novel, THERE ARE RIVERS IN THE SKY, was the UK’s bestselling literary hardback novel of 2025, selling over 500,000 copies.

To hear more from us:

Patreon: Watch exclusive home tours, https://www.patreon.com/HomingWithMatt
YouTube: Subscribe to our channel, Homing with Matt
Instagram: Follow for updates and announcements, @homingwithmatt
Contact: Email us at hello@mattgibberd.com

Matt Gibberd’s book, A Modern Way to Live, is available here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/320176/a-modern-way-to-live-by-gibberd-matt/9780241480496

Music by @simeonwalkermusic
Identity & design by @lena.winkler.creative.office
Produced by @podshoponline

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