(Quinn Lake)
This past Wednesday, 2001-2003 U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins gave a poetry reading in the chapel to a sizable audience. Collins’ unique style is accessible to a general audience because of its flow and humor. He makes fun of his craft, saying that despite what the Romanticists believe, there is a place for humor in writing.
“Romanticists removed humor and sex [from poetry] and substituted landscape,” he says. Collins says he has worked hard to bring comedy back to verse.
After the reading, Collins answered questions from the audience. He immediately followed with a book signing in Miller Hall. People waited for over an hour to get a signature.