Elif Shafak is an award-winning Turkish novelist and the most-widely read female writer in Turkey. She has published eleven books, eight of them novels and writes in both Turkish and English. Her first novel, 'Pinhan' ('The Mystic)' was published in 1997 and further novels include 'The Saint of Incipient Insanities' (2004) and 'Iskender' ('Honour', 2011). Elif is a political scientist, too, and writes widely on non-fiction subjects relating to politics and society. She also writes lyrics for rock musicians in Turkey.