Karl Jay Shapiro (November 10, 1913, Baltimore, Maryland – May 14, 2000, New York City) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. Karl Shapiro wrote poetry in the Pacific Theater while he served there during World War II. His collection V-Letter and Other Poems, written while Shapiro was stationed in New Guinea, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1945, while Shapiro was still in the military.