The Writing is on the Wall: On Democracy

At this special edition of the German Embassy's Berliner Salon series, Nino was in conversation with British-Turkish author and President of the Royal Society of Literature, Elif Shafak. They discussed why storytelling matters in our polarised and often bitterly politicised societies and how of stories and literature might be more pivotal than we think when it comes to strengthening our democratic resilience. The event was chaired by Rosie Goldsmith, Director of the European Literature Network.

The speakers:

Nino Haratischwili was born and raised in Tbilisi. To escape the political and social chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, she moved with her mother to Germany for two years in the early 1990s. Later, she returned to Germany to attend drama school in Hamburg and became a German citizen in 2012. Her worldwide bestseller, the epic family saga The Eighth Life (for Brilka), has been translated into numerous languages and was nominated for the International Booker Prize. Her novel The Cat and the General was shortlisted for the German Book Prize in 2018. The Lack of Light (German 2022; English 2025) is her most recent novel.

Elif Shafak, British Turkish novelist and storyteller, has to date published 21 books, which have been translated into 58 languages. Her books were finalists for the Costa Award, British Book Awards, Booker Prize, RSL Ondaatje Prize and Women’s Prize for Fiction, among many others; they were picked for the Reese Witherspoon Book Club, the BBC 100 Novels that Shaped Our World, and The Queen’s Reading Room. 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. She also holds an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Bard College. Shafak is a Fellow and President of the Royal Society of Literature and has been chosen among BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women. She was awarded the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the British Academy President's Medal for 'her excellent body of work which demonstrates an incredible intercultural range.

Rosie Goldsmith is an award-winning journalist specializing in arts and foreign affairs. A BBC staff Senior Broadcast Journalist for twenty years, she now combines journalism with chairing and curating arts and literary events in the UK and across the world. She is Founder and Director of the European Literature Network, Editor-in-Chief of The Riveter magazine, Artistic Director of the European Writers’ Festival and was Chair of the Judges of the EBRD Literature Prize 2018-2020. She is presenter of the Slightly Foxed books podcast.