Poetry Path: Willie Perdomo

Willie Perdomo is a poet and children’s book author from New York City. He is the author of four collections of poetry including The Crazy Bunch (Penguin Poets, 2019), The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon (Penguin Poets, 2014), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the winner of the International Latino Book Award, and Smoking Lovely (Rattapallax, 2004), winner of the PEN Open Book Award. A Pushcart nominee, two-time New York Foundation for the Arts Poetry Fellow, and a former Woolrich Fellow in Creative Writing at Columbia University, Perdomo is currently a Lucas Arts Program Literary Fellow and teaches English at Phillips Exeter Academy.

Photo by Daniel Terna

Willie Perdomo, excerpt from “Poet in Harlem” from Where a Nickel Costs a Dime. Copyright © 1996 by Willie Perdomo. Used by permission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

The Poetry Path is made possible through a partnership with Battery Park City Authority, partners in design and fabrication of the Poetry Path, with additional support from our Outreach Partner, Goldman Sachs. Special thanks to the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation for funding the Poetry Path planning process, and to the Marcia Brady Tucker Foundation for supporting Poetry Path educational initiatives for youth and children.