Istanbul

In her twenties, the writer Elif Shafak moved to Istanbul. "The city called me," she says. She moved there, knowing no-one, hoping to become a full time writer. She found her subject matter.

"In Istanbul, you understand, perhaps not intellectually but intuitively, that East and West are ultimately imaginary ideas, ones that can be de-imagined and re-imagined."

Elif offers us her vision of Istanbul; a city that's never quiet, always moving and wrestling with itself.

Produced by Rachel Hooper
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4.