Shapiro, Karl (Jay) (1913-2000)

US poet, writer, and critic. He is noted for the sparkling wit of his poetry and for his criticism of Ezra Pound and T S Eliot. His conception of the Jew as a prototype of the modern human informed his striking V Letter and Other Poems (1945; Pulitzer Prize) and Poems of a Jew (1958). Later volumes include Adult Bookstore (1976) and The Younger Son (1988).

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Shapiro taught at many institutions, notably the University of California, Davis. From 1950-60, he edited literary periodicals. He also wrote a novel, and was liked with the critical movement New Criticism.