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WELLBEING, FREE LEARNING, PARTNERSHIPS & PUPIL-LED PROJECTS
via what she called ‘an escape to storyland’. She did not know that being a writer was a real profession, but once she found out, which was not until the age of 19, she instantaneously made the decision to become a professional novelist. Over the course of a career which often takes her into schools as a motivational speaker, Shafak has made, she said, a compelling and depressing discovery. She noticed that young children often openly shared their desire to become writers, but that when she asked older children if they wanted to become writers, very few hands would go up. I agree with her that it is upsetting that many writerly professions, such as those of novelist, poet and journalist, are being less highly valued as career choices, but I also believe this is to do with our learning of many other potentially exciting careers as we get older, which we did not previously know existed. Careers based around engineering, physics, mathematics, history and philosophy are all options which may capture our attention more, and are suddenly opened to us in later life.
Once Elif Shafak had finished her talk, we were given an opportunity to ask questions. One intriguing, politically based question started a conversation concerning recent Turkish politics. Shafak has always spoken out for equal rights for women and men in Turkey, so when the political party headed by the current president, Erdogan, offered fairer opportunities, she loudly supported them. Given her status as a famous writer in Turkey, her support arguably secured the party more attention, and additional votes. However, the administration run by President Erdogan has, since he took office in 2014, not followed up on its promises for equal rights, and the government has become exceedingly corrupt. Shafak commented that if she had known what would happen, she would not have given her support.
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