by Michael Shapiro | May 1, 2018 | Blog, Books, Interviews, Literature, Stories, Travel
I’ve long felt a kinship with Wales, perhaps because it’s where one of my favorite writers, Jan Morris, lives. Recently I had the chance to stay overnight and tour Dylan Thomas’s boyhood home in Swansea. Then I visited his other homes in Laugharne...
by Michael Shapiro | Apr 9, 2018 | Blog, Books, Food, Interviews, Stories, Travel
There’s nothing better than an editor asking you to go to a city you love and find the best places for food, wine, beer and chocolate. I traveled there last year, stopped briefly (for 2 hours, which is fast) at Powell’s City of Books, then got to work...
by Michael Shapiro | Aug 8, 2017 | Blog, Books, Food, Interviews, Literature, Stories, Travel
I first interviewed Frances Mayes at her home in Tuscany in 2003 for my book of interviews with travel writers, A Sense of Place. It was a pleasure to speak with Mayes again in autumn 2016 for a story about the cuisine of this region of Italy, where food appreciation...
by Michael Shapiro | Mar 11, 2016 | Blog, Books, Interviews, Literature, Stories, Travel
Ever since I read The House of the Spirits in the 1980s I’ve adored Isabel Allende. She’s a natural-born storyteller, warm-hearted and insightful with a wicked sense of fun. I had the opportunity to interview her for my 2004 book of interviews with...
by Michael Shapiro | Aug 9, 2015 | Blog, Books, Interviews, Literature, Stories, Travel
I first interviewed Paul Theroux in 2004 for my book, A Sense of Place, a collection of interviews with the world’s leading travel writers. Though some consider him brusque, blunt and — this irritates him the most — curmudgeonly, I found him to be...
by Michael Shapiro | Feb 5, 2014 | Blog, Books, Literature, Past Events, Travel
Michael Shapiro will appear as part of a panel of writers whose work is featured in The Best Travel Writing, Vol. 10, published by Travelers’ Tales. Among the other authors speaking are Jeff Greenwald, Lavinia Spalding and Don George. The executive editor of...
