Phillip B. Williams

Phillip B. Williams was born in Chicago and earned his MFA from Washington University in St. Louis.

Williams is the author of three poetry collections: Lift Every Voice (Penguin Poets, 2026); Mutiny (Penguin Poets, 2021), winner of the 2022 American Book Award; and Thief in the Interior (Alice James Books, 2016), winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, a Whiting Award, and a Lambda Literary Award. He is also the author of the novel Ours (Viking, 2024). 

A nominee for an NAACP Image Award in Poetry, Williams is the recipient of fellowships from Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. 

Williams has taught in New York University’s Creative Writing Program and serves as a faculty member in Randolph College’s low-residency MFA program. He is the coeditor-in-chief of Vinyl magazine.