William Simone Di Piero is an American poet, translator, essayist, and educator.
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.
"[1] 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.
[3][4] He is an art critic,[5] and curated a photography exhibit of Jonathan Elderfield.
[citation needed] He lives in San Francisco.