I'm reading her novel "There are Rivers in the Sky" so I was interested to find her talk on LSE podcasts.
Recommended.
Storytelling transcending borders | Elif Shafak - LSE
> By drawing upon multiple disciplines and weaving these threads into the broader practice of literary arts, the Turkish-British writer Elif Shafak offers an inspirational talk about our world today, the stories that bring us together, and the silences that keep us apart.
She is talking now, as I listen, about women being water carriers and as climate change makes their daily journeys longer, it increases not only their working day but also the risk of sexual violence.
Climate change is a problem caused by and exploited by the patriarchy.
I just read this in the book:
> A lamplighter passes by whistling a tune. In his hand he carries a long pole with a burning wick. One by one the gas lamps along the street come alive, casting a brave glow into the gathering darkness. Tomorrow morning, the same man will appear again to snuff out each one.
I remember the lamplighter on my grandma's street. They didn't get electricity there until the late 1950s.
I also remember the tinkers she describes a few pages earlier, with cars drawn by donkeys.
Eric Lawton