On June 21, 2001, Billy Collins was appointed as the Library's new Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. In 2002, he was appointed to a second term, continuing through 2003.
He is Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College, City University of New York, where he has taught for the past 30 years. He is also a writer-in-residence at Sarah Lawrence College and served as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library.
Billy Collins' books of poetry include:
- Sailing Alone Around the Room (2002)
- Picnic, Lightning (1998)
- The Art of Drowning (1995), which was a Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize finalist
- Questions About Angels (1991), a National Poetry Series selection by Edward Hirsch
- The Apple That Astonished Paris (1988)
- Video Poems (1980)
- Pokerface (1977)
His other awards and honors include:
the Oscar Blumenthal Prize
the Bess Hokin Prize
the Frederick Bock Prize
the Levinson Prize
New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship
National Endowment for the Arts fellowship
Guggenheim Foundation fellowship
- Poetry 180 Project
- View Webcasts of Billy Collins at the Library of Congress
- More information on Billy Collins
