Billy Collins is an American poet who grew up in New York City. He began his career in academia as an English professor at Lehman College.http://www.billycollins.net/

By 1975, he had co-founded the Mid-American Review with Michael Shannon and was a visiting writer and professor at Sarah Lawrence College, also in New York.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins He published his first book, Pokerface, in 1977 and holds a PhD in English Romantic Poetry from the University of California-Riversidehttp://www.cuny.edu/about/people/faculty/bios.html?profName=williamjcollins&profile=yes

According to poetryfoundation.org, it was Collins' fourth book, Questions About Angels, that propelled him to the upper echelons of the literary world in 1991.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins The book was selected for the 1990 National Poetry Series. Billy Collins has broken sales records for poetry, appeared numerous times on National Public Radio, and was dubbed "the most popular poet in America" by Bruce Weber of The New York Timeshttp://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins

Critics have praised the "accessibility", "warmth," and "humor" of Collins' work. A Collins poem has been described as one that welcomes the reader with a witty remark or through humor, then takes a turn for the unexpected, offering some insight into the human condition. His poems have also been noted for their conversational tone, and frequently address the reader directly.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins

When criticized, Collins' poems have been said to be "constricted by the novelty of a unifying metaphor" and that they "rarely induce an emotional reaction." http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins His work has also been accused of lacking ambition.http://www.drunkenboat.com/db4/stephens/apology.html

"...the trouble with poetry, is

that it encourages the writing of more poetry..."— The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poemshttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/438.Billy_Collins

"I want the scissors to be sharp

and the table perfectly level

when you cut me out of my life

and paste me in that book you always carry."— Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poemshttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/438.Billy_Collins

Poetry

• Pokerface, limited edition, Kenmore, 1977
• Video Poems, Applezaba, (Long Beach, CA), 1980
• The Apple That Astonished Paris, University of Arkansas Press, (Fayetteville, AR), 1988
• Questions About Angels, Morrow, (New York, NY), 1991, University of Pittsburgh Press, (Pittsburgh, PA), 1999
• The Art of Drowning, University of Pittsburgh Press, (Pittsburgh, PA), 1995
• Picnic, Lightning, University of Pittsburgh Press, (Pittsburgh, PA), 1998
• Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes, Picador, (London, England), 2000
• Sailing Alone around the Room: New and Selected Poems, Random House, (New York, NY), 2001
• Nine Horses: Poems, Random House, (New York, NY), 2002
• The Trouble with Poetry, Random House, (New York, NY), 2005
• She was Just Seventeen, (chapbook), Modern Haiku Press, (Lincoln, IL), 2006
• Ballistics, Random House, (New York, NY), 2008 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins
• Horoscopes for the Dead, Random House, (New York, NY), forthcoming 2011 http://www.barclayagency.com/collins.html

Other

• (Contributor) The Eye of the Poet: Six Views of the Art and Craft of Poetry, edited by David Citino, University of Oxford Press, (New York, NY), 2001
• (Editor) Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry, Random House, (New York, NY), 2003
• (Editor) 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Everyday, Random House, (New York, NY), 2005
• (Editor) Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems about Birds, Columbia University Press, (New York, NY), 2009 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins