b. 1941

Billy Collins

Billy Collins served two terms as Poet Laureate of the United States, from 2001 to 2003. Collins' poetry has been set to music by American composers such as Allan Blank, Tom Cipullo and Libby Larsen. Collins has been described as the "most popular poet in America" because of his witty and humorous poetry, often written with a conversational tone. The recording of "Desire," provided in the audio playlist to the right, is made possible through a collaboration with SongFest. The performers are Matthew Morris, baritone, and Sungha Lee, pianist, and the performance took place on June 19, 2010 at Pepperdine University. Photo: Billy Collins, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Audio

“Desire” (from “Another Reason Why I Don’t Keep a Gun in the House”)

Matthew Morris (baritone) & Sungha Lee (pianist)2:55

Tom Cipullo

Composer

Billy Collins

Poet(s)/Writer(s)

2010

Date

Pepperdine University

Location

In collaboration with SongFest (http://songfest.us)

About

Born in New York City, William James Collins completed his undergraduate education at the College of the Holy Cross (White Plains, NY) and his graduate education (M.A. and Ph.D.) at the University of California, Riverside.

Collins has taught at Lehman College, The City University of New York for more than 30 years. He is an extremely prolific poet, having published more than a dozen volumes of poetry. His readings frequently sell-out, which is rare in the poetry world.

In addition to being appointed Poet Laureate of the United States twice, he has also received the Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. He served as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library and served as Poet Laureate for the State of New York from 2004 to 2006.

Collins has been described as having a “remarkably American voice” in his poetry. Collins himself said that he tries to invite readers into a poem by first creating “a hospitable tone at the beginning of the poem.”

–Christie Finn
Sources: Poetry Foundation website and Poets.org

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