Experts
Billy Collins
Poet; Former U.S. Poet Laureate
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Re: Does religion inform your worldview?
One's faith can survive a split between theology and iconography. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In Belief
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Cultivating Respect for the Arts
The poet is just as responsible for a small audience. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In Arts & Culture
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Billy Collins On The Great Poets
Coleridge's "Conversation" poems inspire much of Collins' work. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In Arts & Culture
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Re: What sparks your creativity?
Poetry is just a forum for the ego. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In Inspiration & Wisdom
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Re: How should poetry be taught?
Asking, what does the poem mean? kills the poem, Collins says. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In Arts & Culture
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Each poem is a journey, and the reader is meant to come along. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In Arts & Culture
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Re: What are the recurring themes in your work?
Everything flows from death. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In Arts & Culture
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Getting writers to talk about their writing is harder than you think. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In Arts & Culture
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Re: Do you have a creative process?
A poem brings itself to fruition. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In Arts & Culture
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Re: How have your teachers shaped you?
Billy Collins, on his fraught relationship with his teachers. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In Inspiration & Wisdom
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Walking down the street is like a night at the opera, Collins says. Read More
November 13, 2007 | In History
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Thank God every 20 minutes for your eyesight. Read More
November 11, 2007 | In History
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Balance human drive and human community. Read More
November 11, 2007 | In Inspiration & Wisdom
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Every time an ax goes into a forest... Read More
November 11, 2007 | In Future
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Billy Collins discusses the challenges facing the United States. Read More
November 11, 2007 | In World
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Billy Collins, on tribalism. Read More
November 11, 2007 | In World
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When you're not writing, Billy Collins says, there's fear that you will never write again. Read More
November 11, 2007 | In Arts & Culture
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How do you slow down the flow of time? Read More
November 11, 2007 | In Belief
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Poetry begets poetry begets poetry. Read More
November 11, 2007 | In Inspiration & Wisdom
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Collins says he hopes he's brought people back to poetry. Read More
November 11, 2007 | In Arts & Culture
One of the most popular living poets in the United States, Billy Collins was born in New York City in 1941. Collins is the author of nine books of poetry, including She Was Just Seventeen (2006), The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems (2005), Nine Horses (2002), and Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001). His work appears regularly in such periodicals as Poetry, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and Harper's Magazine, and has been featured in various textbooks and anthologies, including those for the Pushcart Prize and the annual Best American Poetry series. Between 2001 and 2004, Collins served two terms at the 11th Poet Laureate of the United States. In his home state, Collins has been recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library (1992) and selected as the New York State Poet for 2004. Other honors include fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation, and the first annual Mark Twain Prize for Humor in Poetry. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College in the Bronx, where has taught for over thirty years.
Ideas recorded at the 2007 Aspen Ideas Festival on: 7/4/07
