Daily: Author ELIF SHAFAK – “Empathy is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes.”

British-Turkish novelist and academic Elif Shafak is an international feminist icon followed by legions of passionate readers. She tells Dorian Lynskey about her latest novel The Island of Missing Trees, a story of identity, belonging and love that takes place between Cyprus and London – and how she too finds comfort in two places, her home city of Istanbul and her adopted home in the UK. Listen for a fascinating exploration of the power of fictional escapism and what it means to a citizen of the world.

•  “Cyprus is a place where the wounds of division are still not healed.”

•  “Putting yourself in the shoes of another person is a humbling experience, even if just for a few hours.”

•  “Fiction was my way of belonging, of tasting a sense of freedom.”

•  “Emotionally I’m very attached to Turkey, but it’s a difficult place to exist when you need freedom to make fun of those in power.”

•  “I would like to see myself as a citizen of the world, of humanity. That doesn’t make me a citizen of nowhere.”

Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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