Introduction
William Somerset Maugham states, “The crown of literature is poetry” yet, a great historical poet P. B. Shelley believes, "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world." These two statements provide an insight to do in-depth study of a famous poet as a student of poetry. It is a great privilege to present this note regarding the poet of my choice. I have chosen Billy Collins and intend to present his brief journey of poetic work as of today.
Billy’s family and Ed
William Collins was born in New York City on March 22, 1941, to William Collins, an electrician, and Katherine Collins, a nurse. He lives in Somers, New York. He was educated at College of the Holy Cross, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1963 and at the University of California, where he received his doctorate in English.
According to New York Times Billy Collins is "The most popular poet in America." He is one of the pioneering contemporary poets of the time. He has authored several books of poetry. Some of the great books of poetry includes Ballistics (2008), She Was Just Seventeen (2006), The Trouble with Poetry (2005); Nine Horses (2002); Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001); Picnic, Lightning (1998); The Art of Drowning (1995), which was a finalist for Lenore Marshal Poetry Prize. The Questions About Angels (1991), which was selected by Edward Hirsch for the National Poetry Series; The Apple That Astonished Paris (1988); and also features Video Poems (1980); and Pokerface (1977).
Collins has read thirty-three of his poems and recorded in CD. The Best Cigarette, was released in 1997. His poetry appears in anthologies, textbooks, and a variety of periodicals, and appeared in, American Poetry Review, American Scholar, Harper's, Paris Review, and The New Yorker.
His work of literature has been featured in the Pushcart Prize anthology and has been chosen several times for the annual Best American Poetry series. Collins has edited 180 Poetry in A Turning Back to Poetry (Random House, 2003), an anthology of contemporary poems for use in schools and was a guest editor for the 2006 edition of The Best American Poetry.
Stephen Dunn has commented, "We seem to always know where we are in a Billy Collins poem, but not necessarily where he is going. I love to arrive with him at his arrivals. He doesn't hide things from us, as I think lesser poets do. He allows us to overhear, clearly, what he himself has discovered."
Collins was named as U.S. Poet Laureate in 2001 to 2003. He received the honors and awards of fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He was chosen by the New York Public Library to serve as "Literary Lion". He has conducted summer poetry workshops in Ireland at University College Galway, and taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence, and Lehman College, City University of New York. He is a professor, poet, author and anthropologist by profession.
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