Contact: Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920/832-6590
For Immediate Release
February 3, 2003

Poet Laureate Billy Collins Leads Reading, Discussion at Lawrence University

APPLETON, WIS. ‹ U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, whose wry sense of humor and everyday subject matter has been credited with reviving popular interest in verse, shares some of his work and the stories behind it during a reading at Lawrence University.

Collins will deliver some of his latest poems, as well as some unpublished ones, Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. Collins also will participate in a question-and-answer forum and book signing following his readings. The event is free and open to the public.

A native of Queens, New York, Collins, 61, was appointed the nation's 11th poet laureate in June, 2001 and reappointed for a second one-year term last April. He has been compared to American icon Robert Frost for his combination of critical acclaim and broad, popular appeal. Buoyed by his appearances on National Public Radio, his readings routinely draw standing-room-only crowds around the country.

Collins has written 10 collections of poetry, the last three of which have sold unprecedented numbers. His 2001 release, "Sailing Alone Around the Room, New & Selected Poems," went through five printings and 55,000 copies, making it a veritable poetic megaseller, while his "Picnic, Lightning," published in 1998, has sold more than 50,000 copies. His most recent work, "Nine Horses," was published last fall and the anthology, "Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry" is expected to hit bookstores this spring.

Among Collins' other works are "Questions About Angels," which received the National Poetry Series 1990 publication prize in 1990, "The Art of Drowning," which was a 1996 finalist for the Lenore Marshall Prize, "The Apple That Astonished Paris" and "Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes."

His works have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Poetry and The Paris Review, among others and he has been recognized with fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

As poet laureate, Collins initiated Poetry 180, a program he calls "an online poetry jukebox." With the help of the Library of Congress' website, Collins' goal is to expose high school students to poetry by daily posting one of 180 hand-picked poems -- one for every school day of the year -- by lesser-known poets that will resonate with teenagers and invite them into the world of poetry.

Since 1971, Collins has taught English at Lehman College of the City University of New York, where he holds the title of Distinguished Professor. He also is a writer-in residence at Sarah Lawrence College. He earned his bachelor's degree from Holy Cross College in 1961 and his Ph.D. in romantic poetry from the University of California-Riverside in 1971.

Collin's appearance is supported by the Mia T. Paul Poetry Fund. Established in 1998, the endowed fund brings distinguished poets to campus for public readings and to work with students on writing poetry and verse.