Billy Collins

On September 30, 2025 Collins performed at POWERHOUSE Arena for “Seriously Celebrating The New Yorker’s 100th Anniversary: Poetry.”

Collins has spent decades welcoming readers into poetry with humor and tenderness that slips, almost imperceptibly, into profundity. His voice has been described as conversational, witty, and disarmingly accessible. With warmth and precision, Collins has built a body of work that invites readers to pause, listen, and recognize the wonder of the everyday around them.

The author of twelve collections, including Questions About Angels, The Rain in Portugal, Whale Day, and most recently Water, Water, Collins has become a defining voice in contemporary American poetry. He served two terms as U.S. Poet Laureate (2001–2003) and as New York State Poet Laureate (2004–2006), positions in which he championed poetry as both accessible and essential. Collins was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2016. He is also an educator and editor of influential anthologies, including Poetry 180.

Purchase A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker: 1925–2025 via our virtual storefront on Bookshop.org, the bookselling platform that supports independent bookstores. A portion of proceeds from all book purchases will go toward helping support SpeakEasy’s nonprofit mission and our literary programs on stage, in schools, and on the road with The SpeakEasy Bookmobile.