Elif Safak

I write my novels in English first; then they are translated into Turkish by professional translators. Then I take their translation and rewrite. So basically, I write the same novel twice. ”

For me, coming from the women's movement, politics is not just about parties and parliament. There is politics in our private space and in gender relations as well. Wherever there's power, there's politics. ”

For me, writing stories is one way of feeling connected to the universe and God. ”

Writing in another language gives me an additional freedom, an additional way of thinking. It's a challenge, but I like the challenge. ”

My readers are surprisingly mixed. I have conservative readers - for instance, women with headscarves - but also many liberal, leftist, feminist, nihilist, environmentalist, and secularist readers. Next to those are mystics, agnostics, Kurds, Turks, Alevis, Sunnis, gays, housewives, and businesswomen. ”

Writing is a tribute to solitude. It is choosing introversion over extroversion, lonely hours/days/weeks/years over fun and sociability. ”

With 'The Forty Rules of Love,' I wanted to write a love story. But I wanted a love story with a spiritual dimension. For me, that took me to Rumi. And from Rumi, I went to Shams of Tabriz. That's how the story took shape. ”

Bad writing is like a bad relationship. Don't be addicted to it just because you are familiar with its ways. Let go. ”

If there is no love between the author and the story, there is no love between the reader and the story. ”

I love commuting between languages just like I love commuting between cultures and cities. ”