"Moving from the position of United States poet laureate to New York State poet laureate might seem like a demotion or a drop in rank to the military-minded. It might even appear that I am heading toward eventually being crowned laureate of my zip code. But in fact, it is very gratifying to be honored again as a representative of poetry, this time by my native state where I grew up--more or less--and continue to live."
Billy Collins was born in Queens in 1941 to an electrician father who dreamed of his son going to Harvard Business School. Fortunately, Collins dashed his fathers hopes, opting instead to pursue a career in poetry. Not only did Collins achieve his dream of becoming a published and highly respected poet, he garnered the nation's highest honor of Poet Laureate of the United States in 2001. Currently Collins holds the position of Laureate of New York State, as well as being a Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York. In hopes of cultivating an apprecation for poetry among young people, Collins developed Poetry 180, a program designed for students to read one contemporary poem a day for the 180 days of the school year. Known for his wit, intelligence, and accessibility, Collins secured a six-figure contract with Random House, and three of his collections of poems have broken sales records for poetry. His work has appeared in The New Yorker,The Paris Review, and The American Scholar. A Guggenheim fellow and a New York Public Library "Literary Lion," Collins was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Poetry Foundation's Mark Twain Award for humorous poetry.
• Pokerface (1977)
• Video Poems (1979)
• The Apple That Astonished Paris (1988)
• The Art of Drowning (1995)
• Best Cigarette (audio, 1997)
• Picnic, Lightning (1998)
• Questions About Angels (1999)
• Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes (2000)
• Sailing Alone Around the Room (2001)
• Nine Horses (2003)
• Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry (2003)
• The Trouble With Poetry: And Other Poems (2005)
• 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day (2005)
• Billy Collins Live: A Performance at the Peter Norton Sympony
