Billy Collins: A Biography
Billy Collins was born in 1941 in Manhattan, New York to a nurse and
an electrician. As a child, he took a fascination to poetry through
reading Poetry Magazine, which
his father would bring home for him. After completing his basic
education at St. Joan of Arc School in Jackson Heights, NY, and
successfully graduating from College of the Holy Cross, he then went
on to pursue and successfully acquire a Ph.D in Romantic poetry from
the University of California, Riverside. Collins then began a career
as a teacher at Lehman College, City University of New York,
instructing students in literature and writing for in excess of 30
years. His resume` also includes his time as a tutor for writing
students at universities such as Arizona State University, Nation
University of Ireland at Galway, Sarah Lawrence University, Roland
College, and Columbia University. (Myer, M. 2014, pp. 865-66).
While teaching, Billy practiced
writing poetry, and over the course of these years, earned a
reputation among readers as a distinguished poet in his own rites. He
has released more than 10 collections of his poems over the course of
his career, which include The Trouble With Poetry (2005),
Picnic, Lightning (1998), and
Questions About Angels (1991).
He has been described as being “poetically hospitable” in his
writing, preferring orderly, simple lines which offer a deep level of
perception in discussing both light and dark topics, all combined
with a dash of humor (Ted.com, retrieved on 2-8-17). Billy also had
the honor of being appointed US Poet Laureate in 2001, holding the
position until 2003.While possessing the title, he was asked to write
a poem in honor of the victims and heroes of the 9-11 terrorist
attacks. His resulting poem, “The Names,” was first read at a
special session of Congress in 2002 (C-span.org, retrieved on 2-8-17)
Collins did not wish to publish it initially, refusing to capitalize
on the tragedy, but it has since appeared in his collection entitled
Aimless Love.
He
married his wife, Diane Olbright in 1979 and they, in spite of
having no children, live happily married in Westchester County, New
York. (enotes.com, retrieved on 2-8-17)
Sources
Myer,
M (2014). The COMPACT Bedford Introduction to literature
(10th
Edition), pp. 865-66.
https://www.ted.com/speakers/billy_collins
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