Anne Shaw read from her new book Dido in Winter at the Pace Pleasantville Campus in Lienhard Hall 25 on Tues. March 25.

Shaw is the author of Undertow (Persea 2007), winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky Poetry Prize, and Dido in Winter, (Persea 2014).

Shaw’s reviews and poems have appeared in Harvard Review, Denver Quarterly, The Kenyon Review, New American Writing, The Los Angeles Review, and Black Warrior Review. Chicago is her current home, where she attends the School of the Art Institute studying sculpture.

Shaw explained the poems within her book Dido in Winter are based on the Ancient Greek and Roman Dido, the first Queen of Carthage. She took on the Character of Dido in order to see from new perspective in her poems.

“Dido is such a strong mythological figure and I loved her as a character,” Shaw said. “I think that mythology and folk lore are something that is always in the back of someone’s mind after having exposure.”

Through an ornate and lyrical poetic voice Shaw read aloud “Small acts of defiance break like sticks” from Dido in Winter.

Following the reading, she opened the floor to questions about her process and her life. Many of the questions pertained to her style of writing and her steps of editing.

She began by emphasizing the importance of keeping a notebook and looking for interesting things to record and have forever.

“Everyone has stuff in the back of your mind that you want to use some day,” Shaw said. “Having them all ready for when you need them is a great tool.”

Revision and editing processes are not set in stone for Shaw. The details in her works are sometimes reworked only a few times and other times may take years to fully complete. For every poem it is different in terms of the amount of time that she spends on it.

“The poem is done when you leave it alone and it leaves you alone,” she said. “Be patient and just keep writing, you will know when it sounds right.”

To learn more about Anne Shaw or to read her poetry, visit her website, which shows her sculpture work as well.