It's going to be a personal testimony about how it all began - a long time ago, in the fourth year of my Master's program. At that time, I attended a seminar in American literature taught by a Fulbright Professor named Stephen Paul Miller from New York, who introduced us to the poetry of some contemporary poets including David Shapiro. What's interesting, Dr. Miller himself had written his M.A. thesis about Shapiro's poetry. Back then, I didn't have a clear idea about what to write my Master's, but I was inclined towards poetry. So I decided to give it a try and read through Shapiro's works.
I got in contact with the poet by email, and we engaged in long e-conversations, which helped me to start drafting my Master's thesis. Shapiro himself turned out to be a warm and incredibly helpful person - not only did he provide me with the necessary books of poetry and criticism (free of charge for me), but he also managed to phone me at my Cracow dormitory to talk (that was before the smartphone era). I have never worked out how on earth he persuaded the janitor in charge of the phone switchboard to transfer the call to room 318. How did he pronounce the number, not to mention my name?
Anyway, the conversation left me very much impressed; Shapiro combined a brilliant brain with a lot of charm.
I completed my thesis and then defended it on Bastille Day.
In the years that followed I continued to read and analyze the poetry, to occasionally write and speak about it at conferences. I went on to start my Ph.D. research dedicated to Shapiro, then I abandoned it, and then I resumed it.
In the meantime, we met in New York, and the poet took me on a guided tour* of the Metropolitan Museum**; despite his illness, he dashed through the exhibition rooms with me desperately trying to catch up.
He died eight years later.
I am convinced that the ultimate fruit of poetry is the reflection or emotion that emerges when the reader interacts with the text. For me, the qualities of this poetry lie in its esthetic and intellectual content: it is highly intertextual, swarming with cross-references, (sometimes made up) quotations and paraphrases, thus it invites the readers to actively analyze it. And this is a task that restless minds enjoy.
By putting together these words, I lay the Shapiro project open in front of you so you can pick it up and perhaps carry it on.
KW
*where he was the guide
**yes, the one famed for fashion shows
Leave a comment