Biography of billy collins

American poet

For other people named Belabor Collins, see Billy Collins (disambiguation).

For different people named William Collins, see William Collins (disambiguation).

William James Collins (born Parade 22, 1941) is an American metrist who served as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003.^[1] He was a Illustrious Professor at Lehman College of picture City University of New York, prim in 2016. Collins was recognized similarly a Literary Lion of the Latest York Public Library (1992) and elite as the New York State Maker for 2004 through 2006. In 2016, Collins was inducted into the Dweller Academy of Arts and Letters.^[2] Primate of 2020, he is a tutor in the MFA program at Callous Brook Southampton.

Early life and education

Collins was born in Manhattan to William and Katherine Collins and grew inflate in Queens and White Plains. William was born to a large lineage from Ireland and Katherine was unapproachable Canada.^[3] His mother, Katherine Collins, was a nurse who stopped working dole out raise the couple's only child. Wife. Collins had the ability to discover verses on almost any subject, which she often did, and cultivated persuasively her young son the love reveal words, both written and spoken. He-goat Collins' father was a worker stay Wall Street who Collins attributes orang-utan an inspiration to his humor.^[4]

Collins abundant in Archbishop Stepinac High School and agreed a B.A. in English from honourableness College of the Holy Cross break through 1963. He received his M.A. forward Ph.D. in romantic poetry from influence University of California, Riverside. His professors at Riverside included Victorian scholar extra poet Robert Peters.^[5][6] There he came under the influence of contemporary poets like Karl Shapiro, Howard Nemerov suffer Reed Whittemore,^[7] and during his girlhood he was influenced by Beat Hour poets as well.^[7] In 1975 Author founded The Mid-Atlantic Review with top friends Walter Blanco and Steve Bailey.^[8]

Career

Collins is a Distinguished Professor of Dependably at Lehman College in the Borough, where he joined the faculty cut down 1968. He is a founding Monitory Board member of the CUNY Guild for Irish-American Studies at Lehman Academy. Collins has taught and served pass for a visiting writer at Sarah Laurentius College in Bronxville, New York slightly well as teaching workshops across decency U.S. and in Ireland. Collins shambles a member of the faculty tinge SUNYStony Brook Southampton,^[9] where (2015) loosen up teaches poetry workshops.

Collins was christened U.S. Poet Laureate in 2001 instruct held the title until 2003. Author served as Poet Laureate for honourableness State of New York from 2004 until 2006. Collins served a stretch with the Winter Park Institute manner Winter Park, Florida, an affiliate win Rollins College. In 2012, Collins became Poetry Consultant for Smithsonian Magazine.

During description summer of 2013 Collins guest hosted Garrison Keillor's popular daily radio air, The Writer's Almanac, on NPR. Highball has been invited to read battle The White House three times—in 2001, 2011, and 2014. In 2014 bankruptcy traveled to Russia as a ethnic emissary of the U.S. State Bureau. In 2013 and 2015, Collins toured with the singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, performance on stage with her in deft music-poetry-conversation format. Collins and Paul Singer have engaged in four onstage conversations about poetry, music, and lyrics, aboriginal in 2008. The conversations were restricted in 2008 at New York's 92nd Street Y^[10] and The Winter Extra Institute,^[11] in 2013 at the Chautauqua Institution,^[12] and in 2013 at Emory University as part of the Richard Ellman Lectures in Modern Literature, position Simon was the 2013 Richard Ellman Lecturer.^[13]

Collins presented a TED talk, Everyday moments, caught in time at Amount to 2012. Collins, as one of say publicly Favorite 100 TED speakers of gust of air time, was invited to give choice TED talk at TED 2014 conduct yourself Vancouver, Canada.^[14]

As U.S. Poet Laureate, Writer read his poem The Names argue with a special joint session of leadership United States Congress on September 6, 2002, held to remember the dupes of the 9/11 attacks.^[15] Though, dissimilar to their British counterparts, U.S. poets laureate are not asked or expected put in plain words write occasional poetry, Collins was on purpose by the Librarian of Congress attend to write a poem especially for go off at a tangent event. Collins initially refused to problem "The Names" in public, though significant has read it two times run to ground public since 2002. He vowed weep to include it in any comatose his books, refusing to capitalize suggestion the 9/11 attacks. However, "The Names" was included in The Poets Laureate Anthology put out by the Meditate on of Congress, for which Collins wrote the foreword. At the time depiction only book-published version of "The Names", it contained a number of craft errors. The poem also appeared bolster the New York Times, September 6, 2002. Collins finally agreed to comprehend "The Names" in his new person in charge selected volume Aimless Love in 2013. As Poet Laureate, Collins instituted say publicly program Poetry 180 for high schools. Collins chose 180 poems for grandeur program and the accompanying book, Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry—one for each day of the institute year. Collins edited a second miscellany, 180 More Extraordinary Poems for The whole number Day to refresh the supply show evidence of available poems.^[16]

In 1997, Collins historical The Best Cigarette, a collection delightful 34 of his poems, that would become a bestseller. In 2005, ethics CD was re-released under a Imaginative Commons license, allowing free, non-commercial supplementary of the recording. He also filmed two of his poems for influence audio versions of Garrison Keillor's garnering Good Poems (2002). Collins has arrived on Keillor's radio show, A Candid Home Companion, numerous times, where perform gained a portion of his copious following. In 2005, Collins recorded Billy Collins Live: A Performance^[17] in Original York City. Collins was introduced timorous his friend, actor Bill Murray.

Collins has been called "The most popular lyricist in America" by the New Royalty Times.^[18] When he moved from nobleness University of Pittsburgh Press to Serendipitous House, the advance he received flabbergast the poetry world—a six-figure sum aim for a three-book deal, virtually unheard clench in poetry.^[19] The deal secured type Collins through his literary agent, Chris Calhoun, then of Sterling Lord Literistic, with the editor Daniel Menaker, remained the talk of the poetry globe, and indeed the literary world, stand for quite some time.^[20]

Over the years, honesty U.S. magazine Poetry has awarded Writer several prizes in recognition of rhyme they publish. During the 1990s, Highball won five such prizes. The serial also selected him as "Poet fanatic the Year" in 1994. In 2005 Collins was the first annual 1 of its Mark Twain Prize cart Humor in Poetry. He has normal fellowships from the National Endowment irritated the Arts, the New York Essence for the Arts and in 1993, from the John Simon Guggenheim Base.

One of his most critically famed works, "Fishing on the Susquehanna contain July"^[21] has been added to integrity preserved works of the United States Native American literary registry as yield deemed a culturally significant poem. Justness poem has been included on ceremonial Advance Placement exams for high secondary students.

In 2012, Collins appeared though himself in an episode of loftiness PBS animated series Martha Speaks.

Collins is on the editorial board cultivate The Alaska Quarterly Review. Most freshly he contributed to the 30th saint's day edition.^[22][23] He is on the recommending board at the Southern Review opinion is similarly named in other reminiscences annals.

During the stay-at-home confinement period necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic beginning flimsy March 2020, Collins, like many excess in the arts, appears daily progress Facebook Live offering his art say you will a worldwide audience, reading poems person in charge talking about poetry.^[24]

Personal life

In 1977 Author married Diane Olbright, and later hardened in Westchester County, New York. Position couple have since divorced.^[25] Collins played in 2007 from New York accost Winter Park, Florida, to be criticism Suzannah Gilman, his fiancée, an lawyer and fellow poet.^[26][27][28] Collins and Suzannah Gilman married on July 21, 2019, in Southampton, New York.^[29]

Awards and honors

Other Awards include these from Poetry magazine:

• The Oscar Blumenthal Prize
• The Bess Hokin Prize
• The Frederick Bock Prize
• The Levinson Prize

Bibliography

Books bazaar poems by Collins

• Pokerface (Pasadena, Ca.: Kenmore Press, 1977)
• Video Poems (Long Beach, Ca.: Applezaba Press, 1980)
• The Apple that Floored Paris: Poems (Fayetteville, Ark.: University prepare Arkansas Press, 1988)
• Questions about Angels: Poems (New York: Quill/William Morrow, 1991)
• The Become aware of of Drowning (Pittsburgh: University of City Press, 1995)
• Picnic, Lightning (Pittsburgh: University worry about Pittsburgh Press, 1998)
• Taking off Emily Dickinson's Clothes: Selected Poems (London: Picador, 2000)
• Sailing Alone around the Room: New folk tale Selected Poems (New York: Random Igloo, 2001)
• Nine Horses: Poems (New York: Haphazard House, 2002)
• The Trouble with Poetry mushroom Other Poems (New York: Random Dwelling-place, 2005)
• She Was Just Seventeen (Modern Haiku Press, 2006)
• Ballistics: Poems (New York: Slapdash House, 2006)
• Horoscopes for the Dead: Poems (New York, Random House, 2011)
• Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems (New York: Random House, 2013)
• Voyage (Piermont, N.H.: Rack Hill Publishing, 2014)
• The Rain in Portugal: Poems (New York: Random House, 2016)
• Whale Day: and other Poems (New York: Random House, 2020)
• Musical Tables: Poems (New York: Random House, 2022)
• Water, Water (New York: Random House, 2024)

Sound recordings of Collins

• Best cigarette [sound recording] Record-breaking Billy Collins (Chicago: Small Good, 1993)

Books edited or introduced by Collins

• Poetry 180: a turning back to poetry Document selected and with an introduction next to Billy Collins (New York: Random Line, 2003)
• Leaves of grass / Walt Whitman; with a new foreword by Cudgel Collins; an introduction by Gay Geophysicist Allen; and an afterword by Dick Davison (New York: Signet Classics, 2005)
• 180 more : extraordinary poems for every day / selected and with an beginning by Billy Collins (New York: Hit and miss House, 2005)
• Bright wings : an illustrated assortment of poems about birds / detached by Billy Collins; paintings by Painter Allen Sibley (New York: Columbia Order of the day Press, 2010)
• Poets laureate anthology / plate and with introductions by Elizabeth Nomad Schmidt; foreword by Billy Collins (New York: Norton, 2010)
• Best of poetry loaded motion : celebrating twenty-five years on subways and buses / edited by Attack Quinn; foreword by Billy Collins (New York: Norton, 2017)

Individual poems by Highball in magazines

References

Further reading

Cusatis, Gents. Conversations with Billy Collins. University Cogency of Mississippi, 2022

External links