Maldon Books is thrilled to welcome award-winning author, Elif Shafak, to the URC this June! Elif will be discussing her latest acclaimed novel, 'There Are Rivers in the Sky' to a live audience and signing books afterwards.

We'll have a book stall set up at the event for you to purchase Elif's books for signing. You can preorder a copy of 'There Are Rivers in the Sky,' with your booking. If you're not able to attend the event but would still like a signed copy of the book, send us an email at [email protected]

'There Are Rivers in the Sky' is a rich, sweeping novel set between the 19th century and modern times, about love and loss, memory and erasure, hurt and healing, centred around three enchanting characters living on the banks of the River Thames and the River Tigris – their lives all curiously touched by the epic of Gilgamesh.

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish writer, whose work has been translated into fifty-eight languages. The author of twenty books, thirteen of which are novels, she is a bestselling author in many countries around the world. Shafak's novel The Island of Missing Trees was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and the Women's Prize for Fiction, as well as the British Book Awards and the RSL Ondaatje Prize, and was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize, and was a Blackwell's Book of the Year. The Forty Rules of Love was chosen as one of the BBC's 100 Novels that Shaped Our World. The Architect's Apprentice was chosen for The Queen's Reading Room book club.

Shafak holds a PhD in political science and she has taught at various universities in Turkey, the US and the UK, including St Anne's College, Oxford University, where she is an honorary fellow. Shafak is a Fellow and a Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature and has been chosen as one of the BBC's 100 most inspiring and influential women. An advocate for women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of expression, Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice TED Global speaker. She has been awarded the medal of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and, in 2024, was awarded the British Academy President's Medal for 'her excellent body of work which demonstrates an incredible intercultural range'.

Date: Monday 16th June

Time: 6:30pm

Tickets: £7

Nearest car parks: White Horse Lane Car Park/Butt Lane Car Park

Elif's books available to purchase at the event for signing.