Billy Collins: Bio, and The Art of Drowning

Billy Collins is a contemporary poet who seems to be entirely focused with the wonders of normal occurrences in everyday life. He has enjoyed a particularly successful career –started in 1968-- in the U.S., based out of his home in New York. He is currently a professor at Lehman College. He has garnered many awards from the poetic community, such as the Mark Twain award for humorous poetry; which highlights Mr. Collins’ amusing approach to poetry, and named Poet of the Year by the magazine, “Poetly”. He served two terms as the US Poet Laureate between 2001-2003, and now is the resident Poet Laureate of New York.

“It is not unusual for Collins to have more than one book on the best-seller list of the Poetry Foundation, nor is it strange to find his books among the collections of those who do not normally read poetry.” (Biographies in Context). This is a great example of how American culture treats Billy Collins. He uses good diction without overcomplicating the meaning, or making it difficult to read. He also has an astonishing wit that allows even non-poetry readers to enjoy his works.

            This book, The Art of Drowning, is Billy Collins’ fifth book of poetry. It exemplifies Billy Collins attempts to connect to the reader with a heartwarming appeal right off the bat. Billy utilizes his trademark irony and funny bone while providing consistent laughs throughout. An effort is made to also include reference and homage to many various great minds of the past; Billy’s way of paying respect to those that came before him.

Bibliography of Published Works

·  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: Poems, Morrow (New York, NY), 1991.

·  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.

·  The Eye of the Poet: Six Views of the Art and Craft of Poetry, edited by David Citino, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

·  Sailing Alone around the Room: New and Selected Poems, Random House (New York, NY), 2001.

·  Nine Horses: Poems, Random House (New York, NY), 2002.

• Daddy's Little Boy (picture book), illustrated by Maggie Kneen, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2004.
• The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems, Random House (New York, NY), 2005.
• Design = Diseno, translated by Maria Vargas, illustrated by Carlos Ayress Moreno, Parallel Editions (Tuscaloosa, AL), 2005.
• She Was Just Seventeen, Modern Haiku Press (Lincoln, IL), 2006.
• Ballistics: Poems, Random House (New York, NY), 2008.

Works Cited

Billy Collins .net - Biography, Pictures, Videos, & Quotes. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. <http://billycollins.net/>.

"Billy Collins." The Poetry Foundation : Find Poems and Poets. Discover Poetry. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/billy-collins>.

"General Logon Page." Gale Error Page. 2010. Web. 06 Feb. 2011. <http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&prodId=BIC1&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE|H1000120669&mode=view>.