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BILLY COLLINS: Making Poetry Public
Profile by Bob Yehling

Baudelaire considers you his brother,
and Fielding calls out to you every few paragraphs
as if to make sure you have not closed the book,
and now I am summoning you up again,
attentive ghost, dark silent figure standing
in the doorway of these words.
(From “Dear Reader,” by Billy Collins)

Billy Collins sighed as possible answers positioned in his mind. The former U.S. Poet Laureate took a break from reading and teaching at the Key West Literary Seminar. After three days in Florida, he felt like a lectore from the area’s old cigar factory days. “It’s been crazy down here,” he said. “A lot of readings, a lot of people interested in poetry and writing…oh yes, Tucson. Any city that has a main boulevard named Speedway is a place I want to be.”

With typical wit, the 64-year-old New York-based poet and professor kicked into gear. Talking about poetry with Collins is like discussing babies with a mother of ten: He takes an inaccessible or unappealing subject for those who don’t practice it and makes you eager to take the plunge. His books, appearances on National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air” and “Prairie Home Companion” and school-based initiatives like Poetry 180 have made him a beloved wordsmith. After all, how many poets have sold out 2,700-seat halls?

“I think of the pleasure I get out of writing a poem, and how it moves me into some unknown territory,” he said. “I like to think it offers a parallel pleasure for the reader to go along on the journey, then be in for a surprise at the ending.”

Collins is the major keynoter for Wrangling with Writing, sponsored by the Society of Southwestern Authors, Jan. 27-28 at the Holiday Inn Palo Verde. Collins’ presentation will take place Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m., following a dinner open to the public.

The keynote will culminate two days of workshops and presentations by more than 30 top authors, journalists, agents and editors. Now in its 33rd year, Wrangling with Writing is considered one of the top values among writing conferences in the nation.

Collins’ poetry matches his personality: Quick-witted, deep yet simple, able to connect two unrelated subjects with ease. He writes about middle-class, everyday items: touring an art museum, houseplants, nursery rhyme characters, the first dream, a fascination with Emily Dickinson, music. With virtually every poem, a reader can say, “That’s me. That’s what I do.” Then he roars around the bend with one delicious, surprise ending after another.
When younger, Collins believed that poetry was about being mystical: the harder to understand, the better the poet. Then he realized he was one answer to the genre’s most painful question: Why do less than 1/2% of all Americans read or write poetry? “I wrote really obscure, mystifying poetry, but I really didn’t know what I was doing,” he said. “Just by changing influences, it got me to a more direct style. I also learned how to use wit and humor. Humor is entertaining, so once I had the skill to bring my sense of humor into poetry, it opened up a whole new understanding for me.

“Younger poets are essentially hiding inside their poetry, concealing more than revealing. During the maturation process, you become more revealed, not hiding so much; now you’re using the poems to convey yourself.”

I ask them to take a poem
And hold it up to the light
Like a color slide
Or press an ear against its hive.
(From “Introduction to Poetry”, by Billy Collins)

When Collins’ poetry delved into everyday life, he found his readers. What followed was a 30-year stream of award-winning books, including Sailing Alone Around the Room, Nine Horses, The Trouble with Poetry, Picnic Lightning, The Art of Drowning, and Best Cigarette (a CD Audiobook).

Collins also reinstated a 19th century literary tradition – opening books with a note to readers. “It’s a very direct message of both thanks and invitation to participate in what comes next,” he said. “Think of the reader as your co-participant, supplying half of every experience. I have very little patience for poetry or writing that seems to be oblivious of my presence as the reader.”

Perhaps his biggest achievement is aiding notoriously oblivious high school students. When Collins was named U.S. Poet Laureate in 2001, “it gave me an opportunity to launch national initiatives. I wanted to do more than blow smoke rings in the office I had in Washington D.C.,” he chuckled. Thus, he launched the Poetry 180 initiative. “I wanted to make poetry a part of everyday life for high school students, and I wanted to bring them up to date with poems written in the last 10 years, so they could learn what poetry looks and sounds like right now, today.”

(This article originally appeared in Tucson Weekly. A more complete interview will be posted on wordjourneys.com in the near future.)