Dani Shapiro is the best-selling author of four memoirs, Hourglass, Still Writing, Devotion, and Slow Motion, and five novels including Black & White and Family History. Her books span diverse subjects from her tumultuous upbringing in an Orthodox Jewish community and the tragic death of her father to her explorations of spirituality and the nature of our deepest relationships.

Dani is a sought-after speaker whose recent essays on the lures and dangers of the Internet and social media have stirred up controversy and are now being taught in many universities—along with her book Still Writing, a searching meditation on the artistic process.

Her books Devotion and Slow Motion were the subject of an hour-long conversation between Dani and Oprah Winfrey, which aired on Oprah’s SuperSoul Sunday in 2013. Dani’s work has appeared in numerous publications including the New Yorker, Salon, n+1, Tin House, and Elle, and has been widely anthologized. She contributes regularly to the New York Times Book Review and is a contributing editor at Condé Nast Traveler. A portion of Slow Motion was broadcast on This American Life.

Along with teaching writing workshops around the world, Dani has taught at Columbia and New York University, and is the cofounder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy.