One of America’s greatest and most popular living poets, Billy Collins, will make an appearance in Muskegon on Thursday evening, Oct. 9, in the Frauenthal Theater.
Collins, who was the U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003, will read from his works starting at 7 p.m, followed by a question-and-answer session. Afterward, he will be in the lobby to autograph his books. Tickets are $8 per person or $6 for those under 18 years of age or those who have a current college ID. Doors open at 6 p.m. for book sales, a cash bar, and live jazz with guitarist Greg Miller.
Tickets can be purchased at the MCC English Department Office, Room 154, from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, or at the Frauenthal Box Office in downtown Muskegon. For more information, call (231) 777-0327 e-mail Mary Tyler, the Muskegon Writers’ Center chair and a Muskegon Community College instructor, at mary.tyler@muskegoncc.edu.
The event is made possible by support from the Muskegon Writers’ Center, Muskegon Community College, Frauenthal Theater, and the Muskegon Area Arts and Humanities Festival.
Collins has been compared to Robert Frost for his ability to combine his high critical acclaim with a broad popular appeal. A Guggenheim fellow and a New York Public Library “Literary Lion,” Collins’ last three collections of poems have broken sales records for poetry. His readings are usually standing-room only, and his audiences, enhanced tremendously by his appearances on National Public Radio (NPR), include people of all backgrounds and age groups.
His work has appeared in a variety of periodicals including The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The American Scholar. Collins has published 10 collections of poetry, including Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, Picnic, Lightning, Sailing Alone Around the Room: New & Selected Poems, Nine Horses, The Trouble With Poetry and Other Poems, Ballistics, and Horoscopes for the Dead.
A collection of his haiku, titled She Was Just Seventeen, was published by Modern Haiku Press in the fall of 2006. He has also published two chapbooks, Video Poems and Pokerface. In addition, he has edited two anthologies of contemporary poetry – Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry and 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day. He 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 (November 2009). His most recent book is Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems 2003 – 2013. Collins’ books are available for purchase at the MCC Bookstore.