Elif Shafak
Elif Shafak, the award-winning British Turkish novelist, is a force of inspiration whom I have long admired. Her powerful novels, her journalism and her media feeds, relay the tales of the atrocities happening right now, to girls and women in Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Her stories have a very physical impact on me, my breathing stops, an inadvertant sigh emerges. Reading her words, it feels like I am covered into breathing my last breath, but then my heart races. It races with indignance, empathy, despair and hope.
Shafak is a Fellow and a Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature and has been chosen among BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women. She is a founding member of ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations). An advocate for women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of expression, Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice TED Global speaker. Shafak contributes to major publications around the world and she was awarded the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2017 she was chosen by Politico as one of the twelve people “who will give you a much-needed lift of the heart”. She has judged numerous literary prizes, including PEN Nabokov prize and she has chaired the Wellcome Prize. Recently, Shafak was awarded the Halldór Laxness International Literature Prize for her contribution to 'the renewal of the art of storytelling.
Shafak is a regular attendee at the annual Dalkey Book Festival in Ireland, which is where I first heard her speak and met her in person, she has had a lasting impression.
Katy Hessel
Katy Hessel, thank you for responding to my email.
My email interaction with Katy Hessel, the art historian, curator, broadcaster and author of the incredible best-selling ‘The Story of Art Without Men’, came about after I had read her essay on Tracey Emin’s recent exhibition ‘Life after Cancer’, in Scotland, at Jupiter Artland.
The shared exchanges that we have with others are valuable forces of inspiration, motivation and camaraderie.
“Tracy’s work esp the large bronze sculpture in nature and your wonderful empathetic writing are both so important… for women… and women artists! Her emotional life is very universal… but I think the power is having the courage to express them… We are so lucky to be able to experience both…”
"This is exactly how I feel right now" - Tracey Emin
“Definitely, it’s about the courage. I think fear is what holds us back from so much! We must learn from Tracey.”
