Phylisha Villanueva

Phylisha Villanueva is a Belizean-American cultural worker and performance poet serving as the second Poet Laureate of Westchester County and the first woman of color to hold the title. She is a teaching artist with ArtsWestchester and a member of the Jazz and Poetry Choir Collective, Tesoro International Women’s Poets Collective, and The Mirror Project.

Her work centers identity, healing, womanhood, and survival grounded in ritual and the creation of spaces where community care can emerge. She is the founder of Literary Lituation and runs The Yonkers Writing Group.

Known for immersive performances alongside musicians, her poetry lives in the breath and body. To encounter her work is not simply to listen, but to witness.