A two-term U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins captures readers with his understated wit, profound insight -- and a sense of being "hospitable."
Why you should listen
Accessibility is not a word often associated with great poetry. Yet Billy Collins has managed to create a legacy from what he calls being poetically “hospitable.” Preferring lyrical simplicity to abstruse intellectualism, Collins combines humility and depth of perception, undercutting light and digestible topics with dark and at times biting humor.
While Collins approaches his work with a healthy sense of self-deprecation, calling his poems “domestic” and “middle class,” John Taylor has said of Collins: “Rarely has anyone written poems that appear so transparent on the surface yet become so ambiguous, thought-provoking, or simply wise once the reader has peered into the depths.”
In 2001 he was named U.S. Poet Laureate, a title he kept until 2003. Collins lives in Somers, New York, and is an English professor at City University of New York, where he has taught for more than 40 years.
Credits for the animations in this talk:
"Budapest," "Forgetfulness" and "Some Days" -- animation by Julian Grey/Head Gear
"The Country" -- animation by Brady Baltezor/Radium
"The Dead" -- animation by Juan Delcan/Spontaneous
Billy Collins’ TED Talks
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In Brief
One TED speaker becomes a college president, another designs a beautiful new perfume bottle …
October 14, 2016
The TED community has been very busy over the past few weeks. Below, some newsy highlights. Wellesley has a new president. Dr. Paula Johnson, a longtime champion of women’s health and health policy, is Wellesley College’s 14th president. The celebrations surrounding her inauguration focused on the theme of Intersections; in her inauguration address, she reflected […]
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Unstress: Speakers in Session 11 at TED2014
March 21, 2014
We live most of our lives wired and wound up, rarely pausing to relax or unplug from the daily grind. Our speakers in this session discuss the consequences of our ever-hectic lives, and remind us of the qualities we sometimes forget to foster. They include an author discussing why modern parenthood is out of whack, […]
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“A Dog on His Master” and “The Revenant”: Billy Collins at TED2014
March 20, 2014
Billy Collins returns to the TED stage to join a recent trend contemplating the cognition and emotional life of dogs. With characteristic dryness and meditative drone — and, we think, the same red sweater — he shares “A Dog on his Master” and “The Revenant.” He reads, to big laughs: “I am the dog you […]
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