Unbound Edition Press today announced it will publish Alan Shapiro’s 16th collection of poetry, Diver. The title is scheduled for publication in April 2026.
Alan Shapiro is the author of 15 books of poetry (including Reel to Reel, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Night of the Republic, a finalist for both the National Book Award and The Griffin Prize), two memoirs, a novel, two books of critical essays, and two translations. Shapiro has taught at Stanford University, Northwestern University, Warren Wilson College (in its low residency MFA program for writers), and from 1995 to 2021 he was the William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina.
Acclaimed novelist, essayist and poet, Charles Baxter, said, “Alan Shapiro’s beautifully constructed poems are both celebratory and elegiac, and they remind us that love may arrive at the last minute, that laughter is one form of wisdom, and that intricate thoughts and feelings can be articulated syntactically and often ecstatically in sentences that give off their own light.”
Peter Campion, executive editor at Unbound Edition Press, acquired Diver for the house and is editing the work. He writes: “There is no other poet today who has Alan Shapiro’s specific fusion of formal skill, tonal liveliness, storytelling authority, idiosyncratic imagination, and unsentimental compassion for human suffering. Shapiro is a great poet, and this is his best book.”
Patrick Davis, publisher and editor in chief at Unbound Edition Press, said, “In Diver, Alan Shapiro plunges into the profound depths of mortality, memory, and the human condition with his signature blend of philosophical rigor and emotional clarity. With wit, tenderness, and unflinching honesty, Diver captures the precarious beauty of our brief time on Earth. We are profoundly honored to publish such a collection.”
