Post by macanno35 on May 20, 2012 14:48:26 GMT -5
Billy Collins has been one of the most admired and well known poets throughout American society today. Through his wit and charm, Collins has the remarkable ability to capture the beauty of a simple everyday life experience, and expresses it throughout his poetry. Due to this nostalgic respect for the easy, domestic things in life, Collins is able to have a relationship with his American readers. This intimacy has certainly played a role within his poetry, his respect as a poet, and his vast popularity. Due to his relatable atmosphere, it is no question to why Billy Collins has been referred to as one of “the most popular poets in America”.
Born in New York City in 1941, Collins is a New Englander through and through, and has lived here the majority of his life. Collins was very close and greatly inspired by his family, especially that of his mother, who had the ability to recite verses of any poem and any given time, and stirred Collins to become a poet himself. Collins received his BA from The College of the Holy Cross, and his masters and PhD from University of California- Riverside. After college, Collins helped found the Mid-Atlantic Review with his close friend Michael Shannon .While Collins was immersed into poetry throughout much of his life, it wasn’t until his fourth volume, Questions about Angels, where he received real recognition. In this remarkable volume of poetry, Collins is acknowledged for his outstanding ability in uniting humanity under the large metaphor of life and death, as well as helping “us feel the mystery of being alive”, as literary critic John Taylor once stated. Following this volume, Collins’ popularity and success took off even more, and his capacity to explore the splendor of daily life remained a constant theme within his work.
Through the relatable aspects of his poetry, Collins’ success has been vast. From constantly sold out readings, to being a regular guest on National Public Radio Programs, there is no doubt in the love and respect Americans feels towards Billy Collins as a writer and individual. Collins was even asked to compose and read a special piece during a post 9/11 ceremony, furthermore showing his high regard within our society. He was the US Poet Laureate for two terms, and was the New York State Poet Laureate from 2004-2006. Collins has received recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundations for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation, and is also a respected professor at profound universities such as Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College.
Collins has expressed the intimacy and regard he has with his readers in a number of interviews and has stated that he is always “reader conscious” while writing his poetry, and is constantly talking to the reader, in his mind, while composing. As literary critic Stephen Dunn once said, “we seem to always know where we are in a Billy Collins poem, but not necessarily where he is going”, and it is that kind of balance that keeps readers wanting more of Collins. The poetry of Billy Collins, and its unashamed capacity to express the beauty of domestic, daily life centers him as one of the most well known and esteemed poets within American society today. I hope you all are enthralled within Collins’ poetry as much as it had captured so many people all over the country, and therefore it is my pleasure to introduce the remarkable, Mr. Billy Collins.
Born in New York City in 1941, Collins is a New Englander through and through, and has lived here the majority of his life. Collins was very close and greatly inspired by his family, especially that of his mother, who had the ability to recite verses of any poem and any given time, and stirred Collins to become a poet himself. Collins received his BA from The College of the Holy Cross, and his masters and PhD from University of California- Riverside. After college, Collins helped found the Mid-Atlantic Review with his close friend Michael Shannon .While Collins was immersed into poetry throughout much of his life, it wasn’t until his fourth volume, Questions about Angels, where he received real recognition. In this remarkable volume of poetry, Collins is acknowledged for his outstanding ability in uniting humanity under the large metaphor of life and death, as well as helping “us feel the mystery of being alive”, as literary critic John Taylor once stated. Following this volume, Collins’ popularity and success took off even more, and his capacity to explore the splendor of daily life remained a constant theme within his work.
Through the relatable aspects of his poetry, Collins’ success has been vast. From constantly sold out readings, to being a regular guest on National Public Radio Programs, there is no doubt in the love and respect Americans feels towards Billy Collins as a writer and individual. Collins was even asked to compose and read a special piece during a post 9/11 ceremony, furthermore showing his high regard within our society. He was the US Poet Laureate for two terms, and was the New York State Poet Laureate from 2004-2006. Collins has received recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundations for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation, and is also a respected professor at profound universities such as Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College.
Collins has expressed the intimacy and regard he has with his readers in a number of interviews and has stated that he is always “reader conscious” while writing his poetry, and is constantly talking to the reader, in his mind, while composing. As literary critic Stephen Dunn once said, “we seem to always know where we are in a Billy Collins poem, but not necessarily where he is going”, and it is that kind of balance that keeps readers wanting more of Collins. The poetry of Billy Collins, and its unashamed capacity to express the beauty of domestic, daily life centers him as one of the most well known and esteemed poets within American society today. I hope you all are enthralled within Collins’ poetry as much as it had captured so many people all over the country, and therefore it is my pleasure to introduce the remarkable, Mr. Billy Collins.