Sid Shifter was born and raised in Orange County, in good old Southern California. His interest in writing and his ambition to someday be a writer came at a young age. In first grade, he wrote a story entitled Danger Around the Corner, involving a boy who turns a corner to meet two multi-eyed monsters. Surely it was a very childish starting point, yet it was that story that sparked the passion for creating things with the written word.
Shifter continued to pursue writing, entertaining his classes with stories, including an infamous series of tales involving Lion and Monkey. In fifth grade, Sid's teacher became interested in his talent and encouraged him. This encouragement inspired Shifter to continue on with his desire to write.
Up to this point, Sid had merely been interested in writing short stories. All of his focus was on that genre of writing until his eighth grade year where he was assigned to write a poem of any subject or form. This would end up being Sid's first true poem. Although he had written others for past various homework assignments, this was the first one he wrote that truly contained his voice and heart in it. Again, the poem was very amateur and youthful in content, yet Sid still holds it very dear. That poem, entitled Alone, paved the way for the following years, where Sid would continue writing poetry, slowly maturing his style and content with influence from his high school English teacher, and fellow Orange County poet, Michael Kramer.
His current works in poetry are a far leap from his beginnings. They do not deal so much with the corruption of the world that many modern poets tend to bitch about, yet instead, hopefully bringing out the light within that darkness. Shifter has come to find a recurring theme of optimistic realism and pessimistic idealism in his works lately.
As Shifter was developing his poetry througout high school, he also continued his endeavors in fictional prose. Through the years he has written several short stories and even two experiments in novel writing. Popular themes of Shifter's stories deal with innocence and experience, although other realms have been investigated as well. In all he writes, Sid hopes to be entertaining to all levels of intellect and social status.
Sid Shifters major influences with writing prose come from J.D. Salinger, Franz Kafka, Mark Twain, Jack London and Edgar Allen Poe.
Strongest influences in poetry include William Blake, Edgar Allen Poe, Langston Hughes, and Arthur Rimbaud.
