Billy Collins Popular Books

Billy Collins Biography & Facts

William James Collins (born March 22, 1941) is an American poet who served as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He was a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, retiring in 2016. Collins was recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library (1992) and selected as the New York State Poet for 2004 through 2006. In 2016, Collins was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. As of 2020, he is a teacher in the MFA program at Stony Brook Southampton. Early life and education Collins was born in Manhattan to William and Katherine Collins and grew up in Queens and White Plains. William was born to a large family from Ireland and Katherine was from Canada. His mother, Katherine Collins, was a nurse who stopped working to raise the couple's only child. Mrs. Collins had the ability to recite verses on almost any subject, which she often did, and cultivated in her young son the love of words, both written and spoken. Billy Collins' father was a worker on Wall Street who Collins attributes as an inspiration to his humor.Collins attended Archbishop Stepinac High School and received a B.A. in English from the College of the Holy Cross in 1963. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in romantic poetry from the University of California, Riverside. His professors at Riverside included Victorian scholar and poet Robert Peters. There he came under the influence of contemporary poets like Karl Shapiro, Howard Nemerov and Reed Whittemore, and during his adolescence he was influenced by Beat Generation poets as well. In 1975 Collins founded The Mid-Atlantic Review with his friends Walter Blanco and Steve Bailey. Career Collins is a Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College in the Bronx, where he joined the faculty in 1968. He is a founding Advisory Board member of the CUNY Institute for Irish-American Studies at Lehman College. Collins has taught and served as a visiting writer at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York as well as teaching workshops across the U.S. and in Ireland. Collins is a member of the faculty of SUNY Stony Brook Southampton, where (2015) he teaches poetry workshops. Collins was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 2001 and held the title until 2003. Collins served as Poet Laureate for the State of New York from 2004 until 2006. Collins served a stint with the Winter Park Institute in Winter Park, Florida, an affiliate of Rollins College. In 2012, Collins became Poetry Consultant for Smithsonian Magazine. During the summer of 2013 Collins guest hosted Garrison Keillor's popular daily radio broadcast, The Writer's Almanac, on NPR. Collins has been invited to read at The White House three times—in 2001, 2011, and 2014. In 2014 he traveled to Russia as a cultural emissary of the U.S. State Department. In 2013 and 2015, Collins toured with the singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, performing on stage with her in a music-poetry-conversation format. Collins and Paul Simon have engaged in four onstage conversations about poetry, music, and lyrics, starting in 2008. The conversations were held in 2008 at New York's 92nd Street Y and The Winter Park Institute, in 2013 at the Chautauqua Institution, and in 2013 at Emory University as part of the Richard Ellman Lectures in Modern Literature, where Simon was the 2013 Richard Ellman Lecturer.Collins presented a TED talk, Everyday moments, caught in time at TED 2012. Collins, as one of the Favorite 100 TED speakers of all time, was invited to give another TED talk at TED 2014 in Vancouver, Canada.As U.S. Poet Laureate, Collins read his poem The Names at a special joint session of the United States Congress on September 6, 2002, held to remember the victims of the 9/11 attacks. Though, unlike their British counterparts, U.S. poets laureate are not asked or expected to write occasional poetry, Collins was asked by the Librarian of Congress to write a poem especially for that event. Collins initially refused to read "The Names" in public, though he has read it two times in public since 2002. He vowed not to include it in any of his books, refusing to capitalize on the 9/11 attacks. However, "The Names" was included in The Poets Laureate Anthology put out by the Library of Congress, for which Collins wrote the foreword. At the time the only book-published version of "The Names", it contained a number of typographical errors. The poem also appeared in the New York Times, September 6, 2002. Collins finally agreed to include "The Names" in his new and selected volume Aimless Love in 2013. As Poet Laureate, Collins instituted the program Poetry 180 for high schools. Collins chose 180 poems for the program and the accompanying book, Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry—one for each day of the school year. Collins edited a second anthology, 180 More Extraordinary Poems for Every Day to refresh the supply of available poems. In 1997, Collins recorded The Best Cigarette, a collection of 34 of his poems, that would become a bestseller. In 2005, the CD was re-released under a Creative Commons license, allowing free, non-commercial distribution of the recording. He also recorded two of his poems for the audio versions of Garrison Keillor's collection Good Poems (2002). Collins has appeared on Keillor's radio show, A Prairie Home Companion, numerous times, where he gained a portion of his large following. In 2005, Collins recorded Billy Collins Live: A Performance in New York City. Collins was introduced by his friend, actor Bill Murray.Collins has been called "The most popular poet in America" by the New York Times. When he moved from the University of Pittsburgh Press to Random House, the advance he received shocked the poetry world—a six-figure sum for a three-book deal, virtually unheard of in poetry. The deal secured for Collins through his literary agent, Chris Calhoun, then of Sterling Lord Literistic, with the editor Daniel Menaker, remained the talk of the poetry world, and indeed the literary world, for quite some time.Over the years, the U.S. magazine Poetry has awarded Collins several prizes in recognition of poems they publish. During the 1990s, Collins won five such prizes. The magazine also selected him as "Poet of the Year" in 1994. In 2005 Collins was the first annual recipient of its Mark Twain Prize for Humor in Poetry. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts and in 1993, from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. One of his most critically acclaimed works, "Fishing on the Susquehanna in July" has been added to the preserved works of the United States Native American literary registry as being deemed a culturally significant poem. The poem has been included on national Advance Placement exams for high school students. In 2012, Collins appeared as himself in an episode of the PBS animated series Martha Speaks. Collins is on the editorial board at The Alaska Quarterly Rev.... Discover the Billy Collins popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Billy Collins books.

Best Seller Billy Collins Books of 2024

  • Best of the Best American Poetry synopsis, comments

    Best of the Best American Poetry

    David Lehman

    Robert Pinsky, distinguished poet and man of letters, selects the top 100 poems from twentyfive years of The Best American PoetryThis special edition celebrates twentyfive years of...

  • Musical Tables synopsis, comments

    Musical Tables

    Billy Collins

    NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the former United States Poet Laureate and New York Times bestselling author of Aimless Love, a collection of more than 125 small poems, all of them new, ...

  • Fever synopsis, comments

    Fever

    Mary Beth Keane

    From the bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes, a novel about the woman known as “Typhoid Mary,” who becomes, “in Keane’s assured hands…a sympathetic, complex, and even inspiring ch...

  • Orlando synopsis, comments

    Orlando

    Virginia Woolf

    Virginia Woolf's most unusual and fantastic creation, a funny, exuberant tale that examines the very nature of sexuality. WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY PETER ACKROYD AND MARGARET REYNOLDS...

  • The Little Green Book of Tennis Wisdom synopsis, comments

    The Little Green Book of Tennis Wisdom

    Julie Ganz

    The Little Green Book of Tennis Wisdom celebrates the beloved lifelong sport of tennis. From New York to Roland Garros, London, Australia, and everywhere in between, fans from all ...

  • Rain Gods synopsis, comments

    Rain Gods

    James Lee Burke

    “America’s best novelist” (The Denver Post) brings back one of his most fascinating charactersTexas sheriff Hackberry Holland, cousin to lawman Billy Bob Hollandin this heartpoundi...

  • The Best American Poetry 2012 synopsis, comments

    The Best American Poetry 2012

    David Lehman & Mark Doty

    Mark Doty brings the vitality and imagination that illuminate his own work to his selections for the twentyfifth volume in the Best American Poetry series. He has chosen poems of h...

  • Poetry 101 synopsis, comments

    Poetry 101

    Susan Dalzell

    Become a poet and write poetry with ease with help from this clear and simple guide in the popular 101 series. Poetry never goes out of style. An ancient writing form found in civi...

  • Third Rail synopsis, comments

    Third Rail

    Jonathan Wells

    "The poets who fill these pages have come to testify, to bear witness to the mysterious power of Rock and Roll. from the Foreword by Bono "The thread or the theme That holds this...

  • The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy synopsis, comments

    The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy

    John Brehm

    Over 125 poetic companions, from Basho to Billy Collins, Saigyo to Shakespeare.The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy received the Spirituality & Practice Book A...

  • Withdrawn Traces synopsis, comments

    Withdrawn Traces

    Sara Hawys Roberts & Leon Noakes

    New discoveries and a fresh perspective, with unprecedented access to Richey's personal archiveOn 1 February 1995, Richey Edwards, guitarist of the Manic Street Preachers, went mis...

  • Ballistics synopsis, comments

    Ballistics

    Billy Collins

    In this moving and playful collection, Billy Collins touches on an array of subjectslove, death, solitude, youth, and agingdelving deeper than ever before into the intricate folds ...

  • New and Selected Poems synopsis, comments

    New and Selected Poems

    David Lehman

    A major collection of poems from one of our most accomplished poets, the prominent man of letters behind The Best American Poetry series.Drawing from a wealth of material produced ...

  • Great American Prose Poems synopsis, comments

    Great American Prose Poems

    David Lehman

    A prose poem is a poem written in prose rather than verse. But what does that really mean? Is it an indefinable hybrid? An anomaly in the history of poetry? Are the very words "pro...

  • Life Is a Wheel synopsis, comments

    Life Is a Wheel

    Bruce Weber

    Life Is a Wheel chronicles the crosscountry bicycle trip Bruce Weber made at the age of fiftyseven, an “entertaining travel story filled with insightful thoughts about life, family...

  • Changeling synopsis, comments

    Changeling

    Mike Oldfield

    Born without social instincts many people take for granted, brought up in a troubled environment and possessed with an extraordinary musical talent, Mike Oldfield was thrust into t...

  • The Best American Poetry 2013 synopsis, comments

    The Best American Poetry 2013

    David Lehman

    Beloved and inventive poet Denise Duhamel selects the poems for the 2013 edition of The Best American Poetry, “a ‘best’ anthology that really lives up to its title” (Chicago Tribun...

  • Aimless Love synopsis, comments

    Aimless Love

    Billy Collins

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“America’s favorite poet.”The Wall Street JournalFrom the twoterm Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins comes his first volume of new and select...

  • The Best American Poetry 2006 synopsis, comments

    The Best American Poetry 2006

    Billy Collins

    "So welcome, readers, to a plurality of poets, a cornucopia of tropes, and a range of interests." From Billy Collins's introduction The Best American Poetry series offers a dist...

  • Horoscopes for the Dead synopsis, comments

    Horoscopes for the Dead

    Billy Collins

    WINNERBEST POETRYGOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS   NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NEWSWEEK/THE DAILY BEASTNATIONAL BESTSELLER Billy Collins is widely acknowledged a...

  • How to Read Poetry Like a Professor synopsis, comments

    How to Read Poetry Like a Professor

    Thomas C. Foster

    From the bestselling author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor comes this essential primer to reading poetry like a professor that unlocks the keys to enjoying works from L...

  • The Eve Illusion synopsis, comments

    The Eve Illusion

    Giovanna Fletcher & Tom Fletcher

    THE SECOND BOOK IN THE BESTSELLING EVE OF MAN TRILOGY AND NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER EVE AND BRAM HAVE ESCAPED, BUT CAN THEY SURVIVE? Eve is the last girl on earth.For the las...

  • The Best American Erotic Poems synopsis, comments

    The Best American Erotic Poems

    David Lehman

    There is a deep tradition of eroticism in American poetry. Thoughtful, provocative, moving, and sometimes mirthful, the poems collected in The Best American Erotic Poems celebrate ...

  • The Best of the Best American Poetry synopsis, comments

    The Best of the Best American Poetry

    David Lehman & Harold Bloom

    Every year since 1988 a major poet has selected seventyfive poems for publication in The Best American Poetry. The series has quickly grown in both sales and prestige, as poetry it...

  • The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics synopsis, comments

    The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics

    Dr David Nelson

    The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics takes in all branches of pure and applied mathematics, from algebra to mechanics and from number theory to statistics. Invaluable for students...

  • The Trouble with Poetry synopsis, comments

    The Trouble with Poetry

    Billy Collins

    Playfulness, spare elegance, and wit epitomize the poetry of Billy Collins. With his distinct voice and accessible language, America’s twoterm Poet Laureate has opened the door to ...

  • The Book of Pet Love and Loss synopsis, comments

    The Book of Pet Love and Loss

    Sara Bader

    A powerful collection of quotations by writers, leaders, and legends on the pain of losing a pet and overcoming grief.An animal’s love is deep, uncomplicated, unconditional, and fo...

  • Answering Back synopsis, comments

    Answering Back

    Professor Carol Ann Duffy DBE

    Carol Ann Duffy has invited fifty of her peers to choose and respond to a poem from the past. With upandcoming poets alongside more established names, and original poems alongside ...

  • Sailing Alone Around the Room synopsis, comments

    Sailing Alone Around the Room

    Billy Collins

    Sailing Alone Around the Room, by America’s Poet Laureate, Billy Collins, contains both new poems and a generous gathering from his earlier collections The Apple That Astonished Pa...

  • Whale Day synopsis, comments

    Whale Day

    Billy Collins

    A wondrous collection from Billy Collins, former U.S. Poet Laureate and New York Times bestselling author of The Rain in Portugal “The poems are marked by his characteristic h...

  • The Best American Poetry 2009 synopsis, comments

    The Best American Poetry 2009

    David Wagoner

    Awardwinning poet David Wagoner and renowned editor David Lehman present the 2009 edition of Best American Poetry"a ‘best’ anthology that really lives up to its title" (Chicago Tri...

  • Eat This Poem synopsis, comments

    Eat This Poem

    Nicole Gulotta

    A literary cookbook that celebrates food and poetry, two of life's essential ingredients.In the same way that salt seasons ingredients to bring out their flavors, poetry seaso...

  • The Rain in Portugal synopsis, comments

    The Rain in Portugal

    Billy Collins

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins comes a twelfth collection of poetry offering over fifty new poems that showcase the generosity, wit, and im...