Whale Day

Description

'Funny but serious, accessible but rich in meaning, consistently surprising - the world looks slightly different after reading a Billy Collins poem. He's a one-off, an American treasure' Nick Laird These are poems of whimsy and imaginative acrobatics, but they are grounded in the familiar, common things of everyday experience. Collins takes us for a walk with an impossibly ancient dog, discovers the proper way to eat a banana, meets an Irish spider, and invites us to his own funeral. Facing both the wonders of being alive and the thrill of mortality, these new poems can only solidify Collins's reputation as one of America's most durable and interesting poets.

Billy Collins is the author of twelve collections of poetry including The Rain in Portugal, Aimless Love, Horoscopes for the Dead, Ballistics, The Trouble with Poetry, Nine Horses, Sailing Alone Around the Room, Questions About Angels, The Art of Drowning, and Picnic, Lightning. He is also the editor of Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry, 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, and Bright Wings: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds. A former Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, Collins served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003 and as New York State Poet from 2004 to 2006. In 2016 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Florida with his wife Suzannah.

A new collection from Billy Collins, former U.S. Poet Laureate and 'America's favorite poet' * The Wall Street Journal * A writer . . . fully aware of his work's power to delight * New York Times * A poet of plentitude, irony, and Augustan grace * New Yorker * Billy Collins is one of my favourite poets in the world * Carol Ann Duffy * Funny but serious, accessible but rich in meaning, consistently surprising - the world looks slightly different after reading a Billy Collins' poem. He's a one-off, an American treasure * Nick Laird *