Lia Purpura (born February 22, 1964, Mineola, New York) is an American poet, writer and educator.

[4] Increase (essays, University of Georgia Press, 2000) won the Associated Writing Programs Award in Creative Nonfiction.

Stone Sky Lifting (poems, Ohio State University Press, 2000) won the OSU Press/The Journal Award.

The Brighter the Veil (poems, Orchises Press, 1996) won the Towson University Prize in Literature.

Lia Purpura is also the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Fulbright Award Fellowship (translation, Warsaw, Poland), multiple residences at the MacDowell Colony, and a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.