BIlly COllins Biography:
EARLY CHILDHOOD
Born in New York on March 22,1941, Billy Collins was raised by William and Katherine Collins. As an only child, Collins had a happy and normal childhood. At the age of 12 Collins wrote his first poem, and his early love for writing directed him to join the staff of his high school literary writing magazine. Although Collins joined the literary club, the clubs content and guidance did not fully develop and nurture him to become an truly advanced writer. As Collins grew in age, his father noticed his intense passion for writing and pointed his life in the right direction by bringing him copies of Poetry Magazine. As Collins read and learned from the poems and critiques inside of the magazines, he realized that poems do not nessecarily need to always be based on a deeply philosophical topic or theme, but can be based off of fun and modern people, concepts, and opinions. A poem by Thom Gunn that related to Elvis Presley especially showed Collins this.
Adult and career life
Collins soon went to the college of Holy Cross in Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1963. Quickly after, Collins went to the University of California, and pursued his PhD in English. At this time in his life, he began to study the 19th Century poetry of the Romantic Era. This beautiful time period showed the blossoming of the great romantic poets , such as Emily Dickinson, Ralph Emerson, Williams Wordsworth, and Walt Whitman. As a whole, Romantic poets focused on individualism (a social theory advocating the liberty, rights or independent action of the individual), the natural world (explanations for the worlds and mans being), physical and emotional passion, and the mysteries of the supernatural. They also centered on idealism (the cherishing or pursuit of high or noble principles, purposes,goals,etc). Inspired and influenced by his studies, Collins attempted to write deep, heavy, and emotional poetry. One of his major influences was Lawrence Ferlinghetti, whose free-verse style flourished in The Beat Generation, a period of time in the 50’s where “The Beats” were against the excessive modesty in the speech and style of their parents generation. Literature in this Era was very blunt, bold, and expressive. As Collins worked for his PhD, he found that none of these reading experiences helped him form a style of his own. Disappointed with his work, he told News Week “My poems were bad in the beginning because they were emotionally heavy, brooding, then profound and ponderous”. During his college and adult career, Collins struggled deeply with finding and creating his own unique genre and style of writing. Because he studied the works of the emotionally heavy romantics, his training urged him to steer away from his natural gift of humor. This confusion of interests made Collins entrance into the poetic world more difficult. While still trying to figure out his own style, Collins sold poems to Rolling Stone magazine in the 70’s and also published two small collections: Pokerface (1977) and Video poems (1980). Throughout the 80’s , Collins work was limited. In 1988 he appeared once again with “The Apple That Astonished Paris”. The title itself hints at Collins new take on poetry. Soon after the release of “The Apple That Astonished Paris”, Collins next book, “Questions About Angels”, won the 1990’s national poetry series competition. Not only did the book win awards, it opened up Collins to a new kind of reader, giving him the opportunity to communicate and impact all types of readers. As these books, along with "The Art Of Drowning" (1995), "Picnic, Lightning" (1998) and "Sailing Around The Room" (2001) released, Collins name and works of literature attracted all types of readers through its grasping topics, amazing details about everyday life, and wittiness. Readers and critics rave about how Collins is able to transparently showcase intriguing concepts and messages in his work, while still elevating its hidden meaning, challenging readers to dig deeper into the “obvious” message of the poem. John Updike, american novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic himself praised Collins for writing “lovely poems...limpid,gently, and consistently startling, more serious than they seem , they describe all the worlds that are and were and some others besides them."
AWARDS
In 2001, Collins was appointed as the U.S. Poet Laureate and served it for 2 terms, until 2003. During his time as U.S. Poet Laureate, he was asked to write a poem for 9/11 to commemorate the 1 year since the fall of the Twin Towers. Collins later served as the New York Poet Laureate from 2004 to 2006 and also still makes regular appearances on National Public Radio programs. Collins’s style of writing “helps us feel the mystery of being alive,” as stated by John Taylor.