Live: Poet Billy Collins at Syracuse University

Collins has published nine collections of poetry, including “Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning,” “Picnic,” “Lightning,” “Taking Off Emily Dickinson’s Clothes,” “Sailing Alone Around the Room: New & Selected Poems,” “Nine Horses,” “The Trouble With Poetry and Other Poems,” “Ballistics” and most “Horoscopes for the Dead.” A collection of his haiku, titled “She Was Just Seventeen,” was published by Modern Haiku Press in fall 2006. He also edited two anthologies of contemporary poetry: Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry and 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Everyday, was the guest editor of The Best American Poetry 2006, and edited Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems about Birds, with paintings by David Allen Sibley. His next book, Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems 2003 – 2013, was released in March.

In June 2001, Collins was appointed United States Poet Laureate 2001-03. In January 2004, he was named New York State Poet Laureate 2004-06. He is a Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York, as well as a Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Winter Park Institute at Rollins College.

Follow updates from Collins' University Lectures talk at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Hendricks Chapel, or join the conversation on Twitter by adding #CollinsSU to your tweets.