Elif Shafak, novelist: One minute interview

Shafak is rereading J Krishnamurti's The First and Last Freedom, likes to write in crowded cafés, and identifies most with Orlando

Shafak says: 'I am happy to write wherever I happen to be, as long as there is no silence' (Zeynel Abidin)

Where are you now and what can you see?

I am sitting outside at a café in Istanbul watching boats of all sizes glide along the Bosphorus. The sun is shining, seagulls are squawking and a group of Syrian kids, no older than six, are begging in the distance, dangerously whizzing back and forth among cars in traffic. It is a typical day in Istanbul: a mixture of beauty and sorrow.

What are you currently reading?

I am rereading J Krishnamurti's The First and Last Freedom, which comes with a brilliant foreword by Aldous Huxley.

Choose a favourite author and say why you admire her/him

My favourite authors change all the time, depending on the stages of my personal journey. These days I am admiring and re-admiring Lawrence Durrell, Javier Cercas, Rohinton Mistry and Ali Smith.

Describe the room where you usually write

I write at crowded cafés, restaurants, airports, stations and especially bakeries amidst smells of freshly-baked bread, and sometimes I write at home. I am happy to write wherever I happen to be, as long as there is no silence. I don't like silence.

Which fictional character most resembles you?

Orlando. Especially when she escapes Constantinople and starts to live a nomadic life alongside gypsies.

Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

I really don't like "heroes" but I have enormous respect for many individuals, East and West, including a political figure: Nelson Mandela; and a mystic: Rumi.

Elif Shafak's novel, 'Honour', is among 20 books to be given away on World Book Night, 23 April. She will speak the same evening at World Book Night's event at the Shaw Theatre, London NW1 (worldbooknight.org)