Dani Shapiro


Dani Shapiro is an American writer, the author of five novels including Family History and Black & White and the best-selling memoirs Slow Motion, Devotion, Hourglass, and Inheritance . She has also written for magazines such as The New Yorker, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, and Elle. In February 2019, she created an original podcast on iHeart Radio called Family Secrets. In April 2020, she launched her second original podcast on the same platforms called The Way We Live Now, which includes daily episodes rather than the weekly format of Family Secrets. The new podcast addresses the societal and personal changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic stay-at-home orders and their subsequent isolation.

Early life and education

Shapiro was born Daneile Shapiro on April 10, 1962 In New York City. She is the daughter of Paul Shapiro, from an Orthodox Jewish family, and Irene Shapiro, from South Jersey. Shapiro attended a Solomon Schechter Jewish day school through 6th grade, after which she attended the Pingry School in New Jersey. She attended Sarah Lawrence College, where she was taught by Grace Paley.

Career

Writing

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.
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. Inheritance debuted at #11 on the New York Times Best Seller list and Ruth Franklin called it "beautifully written and deeply moving." 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." 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, Oprah Magazine, Lit Hub and Wired.
In addition to The New Yorker, The Oprah Magazine, Vogue, and Elle, Shapiro's writing has also appeared in Salon, and n+1, 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.

Teaching

Dani has taught writing classes and workshops at NYU, Wesleyan University and Columbia University as well Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, , and Fine Arts Work Center. On March 31, 2020, she launched her first digital course, "Writing for Inner Calm: Methods & Exercises", on the Skillshare online learning platform.
She also co-founded which takes place annually in Positano, Italy.

Podcasting

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. The podcast’s third season premiered on February 6, 2020.
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.

Personal life

Dani Shapiro was married to Dan Mitchell Storper and Peter Mark Brunell. Shapiro has been married since 1997 to screenwriter Michael Maren, and they have a son, Jacob. In the early 2000s, Dani and her family moved from Brooklyn, NY to Litchfield, Connecticut.

Books