The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an afternoon with award-winning poet and memoirist Myra Shapiro, author of Crossing the Street to Paradis, on Saturday, March 21, at 2:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Books will be available for sale and signing. Seating is limited for this free event; please call in advance to reserve: 843-379-7025.
ABOUT THE BOOK
“Crossing the Street to Paradis is a glorious triumph. It shines like ‘shook foil’ as the strongest, bravest, most heartbroken and wildly funny of Shapiro’s work yet. To produce poetry of such magnificence in the ninth decade of a life is not only miraculous, it’s outrageous and completely inspiring. This is the most Myra Shapiro yet. And, above all, there is such a comfortable, unapologetic, and loveable human spirit who not only shares her thoughts but dares to shock us with her freedom to Imagine Anything and Everything. She has the radical chutzpah of a great poet!”– Carol Conroy, author of The Beauty Wars
From the award-winning poet and memoirist Myra Shapiro comes a luminous new collection that traverses love and loss, age and vitality, New York streets and Southern roots. Crossing the Street to Paradis is a vibrant tapestry of poems that embrace a life lived deeply—fiercely—and still unfolding.
Through moments as intimate as sipping ginger tea with John Donne or remembering the weight of a daughter’s curls, Shapiro turns the ordinary into the mythic. She writes of marriage and motherhood, pandemics and Passovers, rooftop gardens and subway benches, each line shimmering with wit, resilience, and grace.
In her 90s and still singing, Shapiro speaks to what it means to endure, to remember, to gather stones from Ireland and words from childhood, and to find, in the face of grief and global tumult, the enduring power of poetry. Perfect for fans of Mary Oliver, Sharon Olds, and Billy Collins, this collection is a triumphant meditation on tenderness, resistance, and the joy of still being here.
ABOUT THE POET
Myra Shapiro, born in the Bronx, returned to New York City after forty-five years in Georgia and Tennessee where she married Harold Shapiro, raised two daughters and worked as a teacher and librarian. She holds a BA in American Literature (University of Chattanooga) MA in English (Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury College) and MFA in Writing (Vermont College). She received the Dylan Thomas Poetry Award from The New School and was a finalist for the Robert H. Winner Award from the Poetry Society of America. She has held fellowships at the Banff Arts Center, MacDowell Colony, and Hedgebrook.
Shapiro’s books of poetry are I’ll See You Thursday, 12 Floors Above the Earth, When the World Walks Toward You, and her memoir, Four Sublets: Becoming a Poet in New York. Her poems have appeared in many periodicals and anthologies, and twice, in Best American Poetry. She serves on the Board of Directors of Poets House and teaches poetry workshops for the International Women’s Writing Guild.