Monday Muse: The Animated Billy Collins

Nothing prevents poetry in a  room with Billy Collins.

~ Poet and Playwright Grace Cavalieri*

Billy Collins (b. 1941), two-term U.S. Poet Laureate (2001-2003) who also has served as a "Literary Lion" of the New York Public Library, is one of America's most prolific and popular poets; he can count on hundreds and hundred, even thousands, of fans packing a reading.

To his credit, Collins has embraced the numerous opportunities that technology provides to deliver a "recommended daily allowance" of poetry to those of us who demand a serving with our breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Below, with Collins reading, are two animations from the nearly dozen the "action poet" has created. These shorts are in addition to Collins's audio recordings, which include The Best Cigarette. 

Now and Then

Some Days


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* Quoted from this transcript of a conversation between Cavalieri and Collins, conducted at the Library of Congress in December 2001.

Billy Collins Action Poetry (Here you'll find links to 11 animations of Collins's poems.)

Billy Collins Profiles at Poetry Foundation and Steven Barclay Agency

Billy Collins on FaceBook

Library of Congress Online Resources for Billy Collins

Also see this NPR feature, "Collins Values Approachable Poetry, Not Pretension", April 6, 2011.

Billy Collins is now featured in Smithsonian magazine, for which he serves as "poetry consultant". See his reading of "The Unfortunate Traveler".