W. S. Di Piero

William Simone Di Piero is an American poet, translator, essayist, and educator. He has published ten collections of poetry and five collections of essays in addition to his translations. In 2012 Di Piero received the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for his lifetime achievement; in making the award, Christian Wiman noted, "He’s a great poet whose work is just beginning to get the wide audience it deserves."

Life
He grew up in South Philadelphia in an Italian-American working-class neighborhood, attended St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia and received a master's degree from San Francisco State University in 1971.

He taught at Louisiana State University, and Northwestern University. In 1982, he joined Stanford University. He is an art critic, and curated a photography exhibit of Jonathan Elderfield.

His work appeared in AGNI, Ploughshares, and Triquarterly.

He lives in San Francisco.

Awards

 * 2012 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for lifetime achievement.
 * 2008 California Book Award. Gold medal for Chinese Apples: New and Selected Poems.
 * 1998–2001 Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund grant.
 * 1996 Academy of American Poets Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Award. Book prize for This Strange Joy: Selected Poems of Sandro Penna.
 * 1985 Guggenheim Fellowship.
 * Ingram Merrill Fellowship.
 * National Endowment for the Arts grant.

Poetry collections

 * The Complaints. Carnegie Mellon University Press; February 15, 2019
 * The Man on the Water. MadHat Press; December 15, 2016
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.
 * Country of Survivors: Poems. Eric B. Rasmussen Publishing. 1974.

Essays

 * Fat: New and Uncollected Prose. Carnegie Mellon University Press; November 7, 2020
 * City Dog, Northwestern University Press, 2009.

Online poetry

 * Links to several poems and articles by Di Piero.
 * Links to several poems and articles by Di Piero.