Billy collins life biography

American poet

For other people named Billy Collins, see Billy Collins (disambiguation).

For other people named William Collins, see William Collins (disambiguation).

William James Collins (born March 22, 1941) is an American poet who served as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003.^[1] He was a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, retiring in 2016.

Collins was recognized as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library (1992) and selected as the New York State Poet for 2004 through 2006. In 2016, Collins was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.^[2] As of 2020, he is a teacher in the MFA program at Stony Brook Southampton.

Early life and education

Collins was born in Manhattan to William and Katherine Collins and grew up in Queens and White Plains. William was born to a large family from Ireland and Katherine was from Canada.^[3] His mother, Katherine