POET

Billy Collins (1941 - )

BIOGRAPHY

Billy Collins is an American poet who has earned the respect of high school students as well as such poets as Edward Hirsch and Richard Howard. With fans such as John Updike and National Public Radio listeners, Collins has demonstrated a skill for "building a rare bridge of admiration for his work between serious literary fold and poetry novitiates," observed Bruce Weber in a December 1999 New York Times article. Collins gives commanding poetry readings, according to Weber, who complimented the poet's ability to hold the interest of a high school crowd. The poet "read[s] in a voice that leavens gravitas with a hint of mischief," described Weber, who declared: "It can be argued that with his books selling briskly and his readings packing them in, Mr. Collins is the most popular poet in America."

The poetry in Questions about Angels won Collins the 1990 National Poetry Series competition. Following this honor, the work, not his first, was published by Morrow. In a review of the volume, a Publishers Weekly critic applauded the poet's "strange and wonderful [images]" but believed that his poems—which are often "constricted by the novelty of a unifying metaphor"—"rarely induce an emotional reaction." In contrast, reviews of Collins' subsequent work praised his ability to connect with readers. Assessing Picnic, Lightning, Booklist contributor Donna Seaman praised: "the warmth of his voice emanates from his instinct for pleasure and his propensity toward humor." Discussing Picnic, Lightning and its predecessor, The Art of Drowning, John Taylor lauded Collins' skill and style, declaring "Collins helps us feel the mystery of being alive." The poet has "a charming mixture of irony, wit, musing, and tenderness for the everyday," according to Taylor, who believed that "a funny-sad ambience characterizes his best work." "Rarely has anyone written poems that appear so transparent on the surface yet become so ambiguous, thought-provoking, or simply wise once the reader has peered into the depths," stated Taylor.

Collins, who, as a poet, received a nearly unprecedented six-figure deal from Random House for his next three books, experienced a roadblock in the delivery of Sailing around the Room: New and Selected Poems. In a roundabout way, Collins' popularity impeded the release of the 2000 publication. Due to the continued economic profitability of the poetry collections that Collins released through University of Pittsburgh Press—titles that include The Art of Drowning and Picnic, Lightning—the University of Pittsburgh Press was extremely resistant to granting Random House the rights to the "selected poems" it was requesting to include in Sailing around the Room. The battle between Random House and the University of Pittsburgh Press was recognized in the New York Times by Weber, who was amazed that the university press was uncharacteristically and "unduly stand[ing] in the way of an author's success—and wishes."

Weber's article quoted poetry editor/poet Richard Howard, who said of Collins: "He has a remarkably American voice . . . that one recognizes immediately as being of the moment and yet has real validity besides, reaching very far into what verse can do." Collins described himself to Weber as "reader conscious": "I have one reader in mind, someone who is in the room with me, and who I'm talking to, and I want to make sure I don't talk too fast, or too glibly. Usually I try to create a hospitable tone at the beginning of a poem. Stepping from the title to the first lines is like stepping into a canoe. A lot of things can go wrong." Collins further related to Weber: "I think my work has to do with a sense that we are attempting, all the time, to create a logical, rational path through the day. To the left and right there are an amazing set of distractions that we usually can't afford to follow. But the poet is willing to stop anywhere."

CAREER

Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY, professor of English, begining 1971. Writer-in-residence at Sarah Lawrence College; served as Literary Lion of the New York Public Library. Performs poetry readings; has appeared on National Public Radio.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

POETRY

Pokerface, limited edition, Kenmore, 1977.
Video Poems, Applezaba (Long Beach, CA), 1980.
The Apple That Astonished Paris, University of Arkansas Press (Fayetteville, AR), 1988.
Questions about Angels, Morrow (New York, NY), 1991, University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA), 1999.
The Art of Drowning, University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA), 1995.
Picnic, Lightning, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1998.
Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes, Picador (London, England), 2000.
The Eye of the Poet: Six Views of the Art and Craft of Poetry, edited by David Citino, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001.
Sailing Alone around the Room: New and Selected Poems, Random House (New York, NY), 2001.
Nine Horses: Poems, Random House (New York, NY), 2002.