Dani Shapiro

Shapiro's novels include Playing with Fire, Fugitive Blue, Picturing the Wreck, Black & White, and Family History. Her best-selling memoirs include Slow Motion, Devotion, Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life, Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage, and most recently, Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love.[10]

In Inheritance, Shapiro writes about her experience of learning through a recreational DNA test that her biological father was not Paul Shapiro; rather, she had been conceived by the primitive practice of mixing Paul's sperm with that of an anonymous donor, whom she later was able to identify.[11] Inheritance debuted at #11 on the New York Times Best Seller list[12] and Ruth Franklin called it "beautifully written and deeply moving."[13] The San Francisco Chronicle described Inheritance as "as compulsively readable as a mystery novel, while exploring the deeper mysteries of identity and family and truth itself… a story told with great insight and honesty and heart."[14] And Pulitzer Prize winning author Jennifer Egan wrote that “Inheritance is Dani Shapiro at her best: a gripping genetic detective story, and a meditation on the meaning of parenthood and family.” The memoir was included on several best-of-the-year lists, including that of Vanity Fair,[15] Oprah Magazine,[16] Lit Hub[17] and Wired.[18]

In addition to The New Yorker,[19] The Oprah Magazine,[20] Vogue,[21] and Elle[22], Shapiro's writing has also appeared in Salon,[23] and n+1,[24] among others. Shapiro has also written for the screen; in 1999, she adapted Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince for HBO and in 2000, she co-wrote a screenplay based on her memoir, Slow Motion, with her husband, journalist and screenwriter Michael Maren.[25]

Dani has taught writing classes and workshops at NYU, Wesleyan University and Columbia University[26] as well Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health,[27] 1440 Multiversity,[28] and Fine Arts Work Center.[29] On March 31, 2020, she launched her first digital course, "Writing for Inner Calm: Methods & Exercises", on the Skillshare online learning platform.[30]

She also co-founded Sirenland Writers Conference[31] which takes place annually in Positano, Italy.

In collaboration with iHeart Radio, Shapiro launched the original podcast Family Secrets in 2019. Each episode of this iTunes Top 10 podcast features a conversation between Dani and a guest who's experienced a family secret and its effects.[32] The podcast’s third season premiered on February 6, 2020.[33]

Her second podcast with iHeart Radio, The Way We Live Now, launched in April 2020; the podcast examines the way people from all walks of life are coping during the COVID-19 pandemic.[34]