Novelist Elif Shafak has been named the new president of the Royal Society of Literature (RSL), taking over from Bernardine Evaristo as she reaches the end of her four-year term.

British-Turkish writer Shafak, the author of novels including The Island of Missing Trees and There Are Rivers in the Sky , was announced in the role on Friday after a vote among fellows at the society’s AGM on Thursday.

“I was very touched and humbled when they collectively elected me as the new president,” Shafak told the Guardian.

“For me, the word ‘fellowship’ does not only mean joining an organisation of such exceptional value and history. I also want to focus on the second meaning of the word. Fellowship, as in companionship, solidarity, togetherness. I find this very important because we live in an i

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