The National Humanities Lecture

The award-winning novelist and storyteller Elif Shafak will deliver the National Humanities Lecture 2026.

The prestigious lecture, which celebrates the vital role of the humanities in public life, will take place on 3 February 2026, 6-8pm, at the University of London’s Senate House.

The lecture will also be live-streamed online. Shafak is the author of 21 books,13 of which are novels, and her work has been translated into 58 languages. She said “I feel hugely privileged to have been asked to give this year's National Humanities Lecture. Especially in these fractured times, we need the humanities, the arts and literature just like we need air and water.”